THE • GOSPEL 
OF • OSIRIS 

A- LAY- OF THE 
LADY • ISIS 



BY WM NORMAN 
GUTHBvlE 



BRENTANO'S 
MANHATTAN 
NEW • YORK 
19 16 



I 






Class. 
Book. 



Gopyiightl^^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr. 




FRANCES WRIGHT D'ARUSMONT 

■ FANNY WRIGHT "" 

who devoted service and fortune to the causes of Uberty and progress, 

a pioneer worker for the equal rights of women from 1818 till 

the time of her death, and to whom this Lay of the 

Lady Isis is dedicated with reverence 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 

Being an Epic Cento 

and Paraphrase 
of Ancient Fragments 

BY 

William Norman Guthrie 




BRENTANO'S 
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK 

1916 






Copyright, 1910 

By Wm. Norman Guthrie 

All rights reserved 



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,-0 

1'" 


DEC il !3!6 


NEW YORK 
THE SHERWOOD PRESS 


©aA45304; 




O'Vo \ X 



FOEEWOKD 

I 

'</^UT of Egypt have I called my son," are words that haunt, 
\.^ and just because they refer to an ancient race tradition, 
seem as if they must bear some further meaning. Abraham and 
Isaac went down to Egypt, Joseph and Jacob; Moses was rescued 
from the waters of the Nile and reared by Pharaoh's daughter, and 
Israel as a people was born at the crossing of the Red Sea, and a 
second time at the foot of Sinai. Surely this might be supposed 
to satisfy the curious interpreter. So many historic facts or 
legends summarized by the one statement! It is difficult for us 
to transport ourselves into an age when mental processes were so 
far other than ours, for it clearly seems that the Lord Jesus could 
not well have satisfied all the requirements made of the Messiah 
unless He had been driven from Bethlehem in Joseph's care, and 
his mother had been visualized as sitting under the shadow of the 
Sphynx, her little babe cuddling in her arms. 

"Out of Egypt have I called my son." Other meanings be- 
sides did it seem to have than those above indicated; for did not 
the Holy Scriptures, which were in one sense at least the Word of 
God, and mystically the Son of that Wisdom which wrought with 
God ere the beginning of things, was not it called also out of 
Egypt in the Septuagint version for its steady proselytising among 
seekers of a new religion throughout the then civilized, that is to 
say Hellenic, world? The Bible came to the Eastern Mediter- 
ranean and to the Western also out of Egypt. 

"Out of Egypt have I called my son." Was it not there that 
Plato married Moses in some mystic way, so that Philo the Jew 
dazzled the devout of cosmopolitan culture and aspiration with that 
theory of the logos, of the Word of God, which made it possible for 
the reputed writings of St. John and for the letters of St. Paul 
to work out a theory of the Christ in cosmic terms, which might 
safely obscure and leave out of view the merely racial or even nar- 
rowly national hopes of a Messiah? Jesus, as the Word of God, 



FOEEWOED 



was called out of Egypt then to His throne of glory, whence he 
might exercise a veritable world dominion as no Caesar ever 
dreamed ? 

And later it would seem that in Egypt we had the first truly 
Christian people, without record of an initial struggle between 
heathenry and the Gospel. The blessed Mary had replaced Isis, 
the little babe Jesus had replaced Horus, the passion of Christ had 
superseded the suffering and dying of Osiris, the Christian cross 
had been set up instead of the "Tet" or fourfold cross with flail and 
crook in right and left, and Christ, called to the judgment of the 
dead, fulfilled all the functions of the righteous judge and the re- 
warder of the holy. In Egypt appeared the illumined scholar 
Origen, the gracious spiritual philosopher St. Clement, of Alex- 
andria; there also was fought out truly the great battle concern- 
ing the human divine sonship of Christ between Arius, the cham- 
pion of the human reality, and Athanasius, the champion of the 
Divine Condescension, both which must have met in the Master, 
who had mounted the thrones of Osiris and Horus. 

II 

The religion of Egypt or rather the Gospel of Osiris and Isis 
and Horus reached Hellas in the fourth century B.C., Italy in the 
second, was officially recognized in Eome under Sulla 98 B.C., had 
a temple dedicated to it after the death of Cfesar in 44 B.C., and 
was carried by the imperial power far northeast into Germany, 
northwest into Yorkshire and south as far as the Sahara was pene- 
trated by civilization. Even to the most superficial the "Ave Maria 
ora pro nobis," harks back to the Lady Isis, the martyr Dolorosa was 
Demeter in Hellas, but the sorrowing wife and once bereaved 
mother Isis is as evidently akin to her ; the bambino and the madonna 
in popular religion throughout Latin Europe, and the doctrine of 
the Immaculate Conception, emphasized more and more as the 
centuries have gone by, cannot but indicate their origin to the 
most superficial student of art and comparative religion ; for if not 
an "origin" then at least a case of precursion and providential 



FOREWORD 



preparation of the most marvellous sort, must be presumed and 
confessed by the advocate of an absolute newness in the message 
of Jesus and the doctrine of the Christ. 

Considerations of this kind, first suggested effectively by the de- 
lightful lecturer Dr. Lysander Dickinson, pursued the present writer 
for many years. Engaged in understanding Christianity as a world 
religion and as the ultimate religion, he believed, of the world, he 
desired to understand whatever went before and was leastwise 
prophetic of it in substance or form. The apostolic fathers who 
shared the culture of classic antiquity, all frankly, nay, in some 
cases, boastfully acknowledged the connection between Christianity 
and the highest and holiest things in paganism. They were not 
yet such pseudo-Semites as to accept au hout de la lettre the sup- 
posed divine monopoly of the seed of Abraham after the flesh. 
Surely St. Paul, the Jew and Pharisee, acknowledged Hellenic 
prophets and gentile leaders of occult religion. Even Augustine 
and Tertullian, hard and belligerent as was their temper, appre- 
ciated sympathetic kinship to cults and doctrines and spiritual ex- 
periences outside the "authorized" Semitic continuity. Indeed, it 
would have been difficult for the most dogmatic, with the then ex- 
tant body of Greek religious literature, with the then still poten- 
tial tradition of Roman piety, with the Persian-Babylonian mis- 
sionary wave of Mithraism still pressing toward the Ultima Thule 
in the wake of the legionaries, to have insisted upon a merely 
Hebrew pedigree for all things divine. 

Cured of this almost inevitably contagious folly of the unco- 
orthodox, this strange assumption of an alien race-egoism in the 
guise of legal adherence to a "legitimate" lineage, assured that 
Christianity gains as a world-religion when whatever Semitic 
roots it has are not chopped off, but the rather reinforced and sup- 
plemented by other roots reaching elsewhere into the great divine 
human soil, the present writer found himself compelled to evoke 
or recreate bygone symbols and rituals, mythic figures, the- 
ophonies, speculations that he might have at least vicariously, so to 



FOREWORD 



say, their value in him, and be enabled to rediscover his Chris- 
tianity from this and that point of view, so as the better to in- 
clude its Catholic variety and experience its various charms. 

Ill 

When the works of Budge, and later of Breasted, fell into his 
hands, he had the long anticipated delight of realizing the Egyptian 
antecedents of Christianity. Here was archeology reverently pre- 
sented; here were the facts imaginatively understood and valued; 
here was inspiration and a sense at the same time of the authentic. 

Having endeavored, as all rediscoverers since the beginning of 
time, to convey to others his own delight as a traveller in pic- 
turesque and strange regions, he labored to gather together and 
order for continuous dramatic development what seemed to him 
the most significant and sympathetic passages from old rituals, and 
work in as many as possible of those legends which give them in- 
terest and life for the modern reader. Having several times used 
these materials and knit them together by word of mouth, the 
problem of reducing them to epic consistency resulted in invok- 
ing the imagination. Here were two or three conflicting accounts 
of the death of Osiris, for instance, each having its singular in- 
terest because of its liturgic and moral connections. Manifestly, in 
telling the tale only one could stand, and there would be loss in 
two ways where there was gain in one. A device was had resort to, 
which would seem to have a real justification, namely, that one 
account should be retold as fact, and the others as hearsay or as the 
vivid fiction, always spiritually significant, of dreams. By the use 
of this simple device it was possible to preserve in a consistent 
narrative important variants. 

The outcome of this endeavor to convey to others so far as 
possible the writer's own impressions and resultant delight, was 
naturally enough an effort to rephrase and connect together with 
writing in the same general spirit as the adopted or adapted frag- 
ments, until the whole should read aloud without comment exegetic 
or discursive. Hence this present work, "An Epic Lyric Cento and 
Rephrasing of Ancient Fragments : the Gospel of Osiris." 



FOREWORD 



IV 

It may surprise the reader when it is frankly confessed that the 
author had no other purpose than to set forth this Gospel of Osiris ; 
but that just as in ancient times it was the Goddess Isis who exer- 
cised her fascination beyond the frontiers of Egypt rather than her 
lord and husband or her lord son, so upon conclusion of the first 
draft it became astonishingly apparent that the work might, from 
the objective point of view, be more naturally considered a Lay of 
the Lady Isis! For, lo, she stood revealed the most thrilling 
woman-figure of the ages. Her sister Ishtar, her sister Demeter, 
her sister Aphrodite, her sister Hera, her sister Artemis, her sister 
Pallas Athene, ay, and many others less well known to us, are all 
in and of her. What is finest in the ancient queen of Palmyra, what 
is most striking in the good Queen Bess, what appals us in 
Katherine of Russia, ay, and somewhat of that which humbles us 
by its utter purity in Jeanne d'Arc, all is measurably present in 
this extraordinary figure. Great independent person, ambitious 
sovereign, typical wife, typical mother, priestess, prophetess, sybil 
— she is all, and ever more than each and all. 

It is surely strange that out of Egypt should come the Son of 
God, and that with him should company the old and the new 
woman in one ! It gives one an uncanny thrill, it piques curiosity, 
it entertains to the verge of laughter. After all, for thousands of 
years the human race has remained essentially the same; for how 
else could our uttermost revolts and prophetic aspirations have been 
anticipated thirty and more centuries ago ? And yet, there is con- 
solation herein also, for that which has been so long desired and 
believed in, must surely come to pass. 



Once aware that the Gospel of Osiris had turned out in the 
literary sense after the most unbiased effort, a Lay of the Lady 
Isis, it was natural enough to dedicate the same to a woman who 
anticipated so much of what is now already fact, or is, at all events, 
political platform and practical agitation in free America. Be- 



FOREWORD 



cause her literary works have been long out of print, with the ex- 
ception of "A Few Days in Athens," and because she was not 
violent enough in her contentions to invite exploitation by the 
radically offensive or destructive, she has almost ceased to be a liv- 
ing memory. In her day, however, she was an avatar to the radical, 
and an offense and horror and confusion to them who preferred the 
old ways. Sixty years after her death (she lies buried in Spring 
Grove, Cincinnati) a dedication of this Lay to her noble unselfish 
career, to her life of many sacrifices for belief and public duty, 
to her dream of emancipation without injury to property rights on 
the one hand, or to an unripe human nature on the other, will 
hardly seem unfitting to any save those who need to look up her 
name in a dictionary of biography, and take her books off the 
library shelf, and realize how short is the recollection that man- 
kind seems able to grant one who fought so fair a fight in so finely 
bred, restrained, and noble a style. 

All honor then to the Lady Isis, and may the women of our 
time who are restless and eager, and long for better things, rejoice 
in that knowledge of the human heart, ay, of the feminine heart, 
which the ancient Egyptians subconsciously at least possessed, since 
they gave full scope to it and expression in this, their noblest im- 
agination, the Lady Isis. 

William Norman Guthrie. 



Table of Contents for 

THE GOSPEL OF OSIKIS 

Being an Epic Cento and Paraphrase 
of Ancient Fraajments 



Page 

I. The Battle of Heru and Suti: The Prelude 3 

II. Loves of Seb, The Earth, and of Nut, The Heaven 11 

III. The Happy Reign of Osab and Ast 19 

IV. Ast Ruleth Aix)ne, and Desireth OiiNn'OTENCE 25 

"V. SUTI AND NEBTHET 37 

VI. Anpu Acknowledgeth Not His Father Suti 41 

VII. Suti The Traitor and Osar 47 

VIII. Suti and Isis 55 

IX. AST FiNDETH THE BODY OF HeR BeLOVED SlAIX 61 

X. Honour to the Dead Osar 69 

XI. The Birth of Heru Incarnate 79 

XII. The Nightmare and Baptism of Heru 87 

XIII. The Stinging of the Babe Heru 97 

XIV. Testing of the Boy Heru and the Vision of Suti 105 

XV. Heru, Son of Osar, Vanquisheth Suti Ill 

XVI. The Resurrection of Osar 117 

XVII. Judgement of Suti and The Vindication of Osar 125 



I. 



THE BATTLE OF HERU AND SUTI: 
THE PRELUDE 



I. 

There was fear on earth : — 
"As a lion he croucheth, 
To spring and roar in glory 
Upon Bakha, the mount of sunrise, 
Between twin turquoise sycamores: 
Hail Heru ! the lion of God. 

''Face of heaven, four ways looking. 
Tossing out free his four locks of gold, 
Sending his four sons forth to guard his course, 
Four shining pillars upholding Shu, the sky: 
Hail Heru ! the man who is God. 

"Lo, the golden hawk preeneth his plumes, 
He beateth the air with his pinions, 
He cleaveth the summit of heaven, 
He mounteth, and hovereth in the heart of heaven: 
Hail Heru ! the hawk who is God." 

And there was war in heaven: — 

"Forward he strideth the champion of the Gods, 

(Heru, Heru!) 

Erect is he, and terrible of mien. 

(Heru, Heru!) 

He shaketh his spear and his brazen bow, 

He swingeth his sceptre as an awful mace. 

As a crooked sickle flasheth his sword. 

And the mightiest foe hath he laid low 

As the grass on the billowy mead." 

The Eebel Angel confronted the champion : — 
"Heru, behold thy brother of old time. 
In the beginning, thy twin, thy fellow ! 
Ay, Suti is he who led 
His company erstwhile of holy ones, 
Ere he drew of envy downward 
The primal sun-path through the zenith 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



And wrought the ruinous heat; 

Ere he scorched the earth to a desert of sand. 

Ere by cunning he stole from the sun-king 

A portion of his godly glory, 

Shortening the hours of his orbed triumph; 

Ere he made the waxing new moon of Tehuti, 

The ibis-headed, who reckoneth and recordeth all in truth. 

To wane and to perish 

In the midmost heart of the ancient sky. 

Thenceforth was he like thee no longer, 

Heru, thy brother Suti : 

His changing shapes as the moods of his spirit 

The grudging, the greedy, the wanton destroyer, 

The outcast prowler, the furtive fear. 

Thenceforth is he the horned antelope. 

Winged and swift of pitiless hooves 

That gallopeth through the desert amain. 

That raiseth in red voluminous clouds 

The infinite dry dust of death. 

That choketh and buryeth the parched fields : — 

Suti, the hurricane, Suti, the sand-storm, 

Suti, that laugheth for murderous glee. 

"His the fierce-tusked hippopotamus 

That lumbereth and shaketh the earth; 

The crocodile likewise whose jaws devour 

The stars as they rise from the dewy horizon 

And bathe them in the holy river, the Nile, 

The crocodile, whose tail thresheth the torn clouds : 

Suti, the ravenous! 

"He is Apep, the dragon, the worm of evil. 

Writhing and wallowing through the vasty deep; 

And the thunder blasteth 

And the lightning rippeth. 

And the cloudbursts engulf the gracious green earth. 

4: 



THE BATTLE OF HERU AND SUTI 



"Suti, who knoweth no pity, no reverence, 
A craven monster men deem him, the hyena 
That prowleth in the cold, bare night. 
And diggeth np the bones of the defenceless, 
And sknlketh to fall upon the sun and the moon 
As they rest them in hallowed confiding sleep, 
The slow waxing terror, he, of the swallowing eclipi 
For Suti abhorreth their glory 
Alike of the golden day 
And of the silver night. 

"The secret pestilence is he, that creepeth cunningly 

And stingeth in the carefree hour. 

From father to son, from mother to babe — 

And multitudes perish and wot not ever 

Who smote them from craven ambush in the dark ! 

''Suti, ay Suti, is he: 

The wicked one he. 

The murderer of father. 

The profaner of his mother. 

The strangler of the newly born ; 

The felon, the madman, 

The fanged, the hoofed, the horned, 

Suti, the abominable, the abhorred !" 

And Heru spake no word 

Save only : 
"What wouldest thou with me?" 
"I would win thee my brother," quoth he, 
"To bestow on me thy love 
And bind thee with me in bonds of kindred." 
"Out of thine own mouth wot I not well 
That thou beest the grudger, the liar, the uprooter, 
Breaker of troth, reviler, 
Layer waste of sacred shrines. 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Violator of the noble dead? 

Wouldest thou win me to be even like unto thee — 

Accuser? destroyer? 

No brother of mine art thou, 

But my enemy from everlasting; 

And thee, even thee, must I overthrow." 

Then the twain terrible ones 

Joined battle in the height and in the deep. 

And the earth trembled to her foundation. 

And the firmament rang with the cries of victory, 

And the joy, therefore, did ebb and flow as the great sea: — 

"'Shout for Heru in the heavens, 

For he leapeth, he prevaileth. 

He standeth upright upon the monster, 

With the spurning foot of the most swift. 

He is master forever, 

Unswerving, unwavering, unafraid. 

The vasty feet of his adversary 

Clank with the chain of thunder 

The which Heru hath forged from the beginning for the foe ; 

He goadeth him with the spear of lightning 

In the wounded all-devouring throat; 

He driveth afar the trailing black storms. 

He filleth the heaven with quivering brilliance. 

And cleanseth them forever of the bats of the unclean. 

'•'And lo, he cometh into the two lands, 

Heru, as a man unto mankind. 

As a mighty man of valor. 

Followed of his brawny hosts. 

And they set up the roaring forges, 

And Heru, the power of the sunheat at noon. 

Hath softened as the wax the stones of iron. 

And his fellows swing with him their sledges 

And fashion the weapons of the fighter. 



THE BATTLE OF HERU AND SUTI 



"Hail Heru, the mighty hunter ! 

He hath cleansed the two lands already, 

And Ra rejoiceth in his son upon the earth 

Who hath vanquished there also 

The rebel Suti ; 

Who hath driven out from thence 

And slain his demon hordes, 

And made safe forever the abodes of men: 

The pure worshippers of the sun. 

Who bide along the holy river 

Safely atween wilderness and wilderness, 

Between wall of water and wallowing sea. 

All hail, Heru, Son of Ea, 

Friend and saviour of man !" 



11. 

THE LOVES OF SEE, THE EARTH, AND OF NUT, 
THE HEAVEN 



II. 



Now men did multiply exceedingly 

Upon the bosom of the earth, 

Until the fish failed them in the water, 

And the game in the forest failed them. 

For the forest forsook the lowlands 

And left them desolate. 

And men committed abominations 

For scarcity of food. 

Then iSeb, great God of Earth; — 
One red lion mouth to the East 

whence issueth the sun-orb, 
One red lion mouth to the West 

that receiveth it again at sunset, 
Through whose secret passage passeth at night 
The sun, to rest him in his caves — 
Great 8eb lay stark along the earth. 
He stretched one hand thereover in blessing, 
And raised in supplication the other to heaven-ward : 

"Shall there not be found for man 

Who roameth as a beast over the surface of the earth, 

Who fainteth or raveneth for famine. 

Any kindly help at all from God?" 

Then Nut, the great Goddess of the sky, 

Which danceth tiptoe upon the mount of sunrise. 

Which reacheth with her iingertips afar. 

Even to the mount of sunset — 

Starry-vestured Nut, 

Over whose radiance saileth the sun in his pride, 

She hearkened to the cry of Seb, 

And she yearned unto him, — 

For Nut was alone thitherto 

And watered her sycamore with her tears. 

And behold she did lift herself up 

In the darkness as a mighty woman 

11 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Azure-vested, star-begemmed, 

And caressed with her fingers high heaven. 

And the mighty one. 

The holy lady of heaven. 

The mistress of the Gods, did cry aloud 

In the longing of her heart: — 

"Why comest thou not unto me, 

Seb of the trees and the green herbs? 

Thou yearnest to help the sons of men? 

And hast thou hearkened the oracle of old: 

How the mighty God of goodness, the lord of abundant fruits, 

How the mighty Goddess of beauty, dispenser of fair order. 

Shall condescend in the fashion of men and women. 

And over them establish kindly sway? 

Ponder the mystery. 

Whose offspring may they be but thine and mine?" 

And Nut waxed faint, and she whispered : 
"Come, come hither unto me 

my Lover, the Earth." 
"Woe is me that I am alone." 

Cried Nut the lonely Goddess, — 
And Seb did moan in the awful stillness. 
"I cannot rise, 

1 have no wings to mount unto thee on high — 
Woe, woe is me," 

Made answer Seb, the yearning God. 

And Nut cried : 
"Alter thy form. 
Escape from thy bondage, 
Moimt into the stars, lover 
As the moon, the gliding moon, 
Eed for passion, golden for gladness. 
White for too great bliss; 

12 



LOVES OF SEB, THE EARTH, AND OF NUT, THE HEAVEN 

Mount "imto the throbbing bosom of the goddess. 
Even unto the kiss of her silent lips." 

And lo, the God of the green earth 

Became transfigured into the shining moon, 

And swam across the Nile of the sky 

In the still cold magic of the night. 

And lo, the Goddess of heaven 

Had arrayed and bedecked herself 

With a million million jewels, 

That were dancing stars, for his delight. 

And Nut was filled with a vision of gladness, 
And she sang her thankful hymn; 

"Hark I shall bear, I, a blessed mother. Him : — 
The mighty to behold the good — 
The mighty to reveal the unseen 
Beauty and goodness made manifest, 
Whose star is Sah, Orion — 
Osar, my Lord Osiris. 

"And Her, his lovely companion also : — 
The pride to wear his glory, 
The power to administer his kingdom. 
The loyalty to serve and suffer. 
Whose star dartleth at sunrise — 
Sebt, the white Sirius, — 
Ast, my Lady I sis." 

Then of a sudden was Nut filled with heaviness, 

And she sobbed out loud for the foreseen doom of sorrow: — 

"Woe is me ! Woe is thee ! 

Yet not otherwise might it have come to pass. 

The thick darkness and clear light 

Be foes inseparable ever. 

The fruitful valley hemmed of the burning desert ! 

13 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



The arch foe of man — he also — 

Though we willed him not, 

Though we hated him from the beginning — 

Suti, Set, shall be born of us, 

Yea of thee and of me. 

Yet for us is there comfort in store : 

His gentle sister, the mild darkness, — his twilight shadow 

That fain would woo, and cannot win him 

Back to his ancient fair estate — 

Nebthet, ISTephthys, she too 

Shall be born of thee and me !" 



Then answered Seb unto Nut his beloved : — 
"Albeit thou foresee unhallowed evil. 
Not in vain, Sky, have we loved, we twain 
Am not I the Earth that maketh to abound 



season 



The good things of Ea in their s 

And if the evil Suti of the North 

Shall be born of thee as a man, 

With his consort Nebthet of the South, 

The mild Nephthys, that forsaking him 

Would fain atone for the sin and the curse, — 

Yet shall the blessed dispenser 

Of the golden harvest of the West, 

Osar, Osiris, 

And the mistress of the dewy flowers and the morning star, Sebt, 

Ast, Isis, 

After much grief, sorrow, bereavement, 

And agelong travail 

Prevail ! 

We willed in our love the good only. 

But the evil and foul ensued unbidden, — 

Yet not without a blessing : 

For so the good shall be wholly known for goodness. 

And beauty worshipped as gracious and true I 

Not in vain have we loved 

14 



LOVES OF SEB, THE EARTH, AND OF NUT, THE HEAVEN 

Not in vain we twain — 

thou holy spiritual Goddess Nut of the starry sky, 

And I, — unto myself, ere then a burden, 

Low-lying beneath thy splendor, 

The bestower of the sprouting verdure. 

And the warder of the silent dead." 



15 



III. 

THE HAPPY PvEIGN OF OSAR AND AST 



III. 



And Osar and Ast do sit — 

Lord Osiris and Lady Isis — 

Upon the throne of the two lands, 

And of all men are they beloved. 

He taketh the red crown of the Xorth, 

Where the holy river runneth 

Through the marshes to the sea, 

Where the hooded serpent 

Upreareth to hiss; 

He taketh the white crown 

Of the South, 

Where the holy river windeth 

And the vulture hovereth 

Through the dancing heat. 

And Isis said unto Osiris: — 

"0 my beloved, my king, my glory, 

A vision is vouchsafed unto me, 

A glad vision of good for men. 

Behold, — how the wind yonder 

Waveth the grass — 

As ripples of sheen 

Over the sacred stillness of the emerald 

Sunlit lake ? 

It is the grain that shall nourish men, 

With its golden kernels of ripe seed, 

When game and fish wax scarce. 

And the grudging desert of Suti 

Yieldeth them naught for food." 

And Osiris grew glad with a great and holy gladness- 
"0 sister, my beloved, my queen, my glory, 
The vision vouchsafed unto thee 
Be it mine to declare unto men. 
Lo, forth must I fare through the kingdom 
To publish the good tidings abroad: — 
How that men are free henceforward 

19 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



From the chances of the chase, 

From the chances of the fishcatch. 

From the savage madness of the manhunt! 

How the grain that waveth o'er the earth 

Shall redeem their lives from brutish violence, 

That they may dwell forever 

As brethren together, 

Tilling the blessed earth." 

And Isis entreated : 

"Go not forth, my beloved, 

For then should I sorrow that I beheld 

Ever in vision the salvation of men. 

Let them come the rather to thee and profit 

By the wisdom of their king!" 

But Osiris reproved her in love : — 

"Nay, behold, Queen, so shall it even be 1 

The golden grain I gather in my hand 

It shall not be for the sustenance of man. 

Sown shall it be in the dawn 

At the setting of the Pleiades. 

As to a burial divine 

Shall we scatter the sacred gift. 

But lo, it shall rise again to life an hundredfold, 

And men shall laugh for the great plenty. 

And bask them in the ripening sun." 

And Isis made moan : — 

"Nay thine is a cruel omen ! 

Shall they live, beloved, by thy death?" 

Osiris, however, cried in gladness: 

"My life sufficeth ! and if thy reading of the omen, 

wise one, be true and I must die ; 

Do thou forget not the resurrection of the wheat, 

Of the twinkling rye 

Of the billowing barley." 

20 



THE HAPPY REIGN OF OSAR AND AST 

Isis: 

^'Nay, but if thou diest daily, 

Where shall our joy be? 

Where shall joy tarry for us my king? 

Osiris : 

"In our son shall we see joy. 

The son of our great-souled goodness to man!"' 

Isis: 

"What though he be thy son, 
But begotten of thy wayward death, 
And I bear him in widowhood. 
And my heart ache and break 
In loneliness for thee?" 

Osiris : 

Calm thy misgivings, beloved. 

Soothe thy boding heart. 

Shall we withhold thy gifts from men; 

And dole them alone 

To the servants of our household. 

And them that come from afar to hail our glory ? 

Not so. I shall publish abroad the gladness — 

Thy good tidings far and wide through the two lands. 

Farewell, my beloved, 

Abide in peace my return. 

For long methinks shall I not tarry. 

And if life do come only of death, 

Mourn not for me too sorely 

For so shall I go through death unto life, 

An hundred, ay, a thousand-fold." 

And lo, the queen waxed proud 

And quailed not any more. 

She grasped a reed of the marshes, 

21 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



A papyrus, for her sceptre, 

She donned a head-dress of the vulture — 

Wings, either side over her hearkening ears, 

Fantail outspread behind, 

Hooked beak lifted terrible aloft — 

Over her brows serene ! 

And Osiris tarried for a moment. 
Looking back at her with fondness. 
And rejoiced greatly in his lordly pride : — 
"No queen art thou 

But a mighty goddess 

my beloved — 

And through me a beneficent mother 

Unto all mankind art thou ! 

A bestower of life and gladness 

Of fostering love, wherefore, — 

Rejoice ! rejoice !" 

And Isis haughtily smiled: — 
"Art thou not still a greater God 
That forsakest me to make me glorious, 
Overcoming the evil with the good, 
Carrying thy loving kindness, my king, 
Most mighty and most meek. 
Unto the ends of the habitable earth?" 



22 



IV. 

AST RULETH ALONE, AND DESIRETH 
OMNIPOTENCE 



IV. 



*Aia I a queen, a goddess? 
Am I a woman 

That longeth in humbleness for mine husband? 
Do I hold sway 
In his stead, 
Upon his throne, 
And it sufficeth not? 
Without violence 
I exercise authority. 
And men are glad thereof ; 
For rule I not them with laws 

Even such as my lord hath foreordained in their hearts, 
And his will abideth in mine?" 



'TTet wherefore is man subject 
To evil all his days, 
Or in the latter end thereof? 
Whence hath the evil being? 
Hath the Lord of the heaven fallen into error. 
Not knowing what he wrought? 
Hath he slumbered and forsooth another 
His enemy, and yet his offspring, — 
Else how otherwise begotten in earth or heaven? — 
Hath wrought evil that the great God might not let. 
Nor bring to nought? Nowise." 



'Howbeit if the Supreme 
Hath willed so the evil 
Eor the humblest children of men. 
Shall not the evil as surely 
Smite him also? Dwelleth not 
Likewise as deeply, as mightily. 
The law in Him? 

25 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



"The law of my bosom 

Is it not lord of his bosom ? 

And shall he then withhold what is his to bestow? 
To be as God- 
Shall we desire it; 

And find not the powers in God thereunto? 
Queen would I be 
Of the star, Sebt, Sirius, 
That dwelleth yonder in the dawn-sky, 
As the Nile swelleth 
To flood with gold 
The low-lying lands, and array them in green. 

"Ha ! I shall surely take 

Of the moist loam and shape me 

A serpent to hiss in the straight path of the Sun-God ! 

For, hath he made evil, 

Then evil shall smite him, 

Ay, in the heel of the wayfaring God ! 

"Now do I breathe upon thee. 
Feelest my life-giving breath, 
Serpent of my fashioning? 

Ha ! thou art quick and death-dealing, my creature ! 
Stand not up as a threatening sceptre. 
Lie thou lowly, in craft and cunning. 
Hiss not aloud of a sudden in his ear 
The dread doubt of my woman's heart ! 
For lo, I believe him, yea, woe's me, I believe him 
Yet do I worship not. 
Sting him my serpent, thou subtle doubt, 
Thou doubt of his goodness 
Thou doubt of his godhead 
That demandeth his Name, his secret name. 

"Declare thou thine inmost nature, God ! 
For till I love thee. 



AST RULETH ALONE, AND DESIRETH OMNIPOTENCE 

I will not believe, 

Nor till I believe — 

I will not fear !" 
And the face of the queen was troubled 
And her heart was vexed sore. 

Now Ea, the ancient of days, 
Was waxen old, men said. 
For long it was he had not renewed 
The revelation of his great glory. 
And men had forgotten his ancient wisdom, 
And his names, that were manifold. 
Withheld their blessed meaning. 
And inspired not power or awe, 
So that even the most high Gods 
In their holy fellowship knew them at all no more. 

Wherefore Ra, the Supreme Father 

He seemed to totter through the door of the East 

Golden garmented. 

Followed of his radiant ever young attendants, 

And he leaned upon his staff, 

And the sight of his eyes failed him 

For very age. 

He saw not the crouching doubt at all, 

The doubt of the woman's heart 

That lay moveless and dumb along his wonted way. 

He fared past it, for he recked not of it. 

And lo, it was a swift foe to smite, 

And stang his heel unhindered, unheeded. 

Then suddenly the holy and glorious God 
He opened his mouth for anguish. 
And his cry rang through the heaven 
And shook the silences 
To a many throated shrieking terror. 
All the Gods, his sons, cried out in answer 

27 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



A myriad echoes from the vastness : 
"What evil hath befallen our father ? 
That he summoneth us unto him 
With so terrible a voice, 
Fear and utter anguish in the cry ?" 



When the great and holy God 
Had established his heart, 
He made answer unto his gathered children :- 

"I am the sacred essence. 

My being is in every God. 

I have multitudes of Names, 

Yet my inmost very Name 

Is hidden within me from all gods. 

Lest any creature of my hands 

Or God-son of mine essence 

Do get dominion over me! 

Behold, mine offspring, 

That which lifted against me 

As I live, I created it not. 

Yet my heart burneth within me. 

I am hotter than fire, 

My flesh doth quake exceedingly, — 

I am colder than the water. 

Yet it is neither fire nor water. 



'Let all my children 
Assemble themselves together, 
(The Gods unto whom I gave in trust 
Everlasting words of power,) 
That they may discern mine enemy 
Who hath smitten my heel in secret. 
And let them stay the poison of his wound 
Ere I perish, and ye all with me." 

28 



AST RULETH ALONE, AND DESIRETH OMNIPOTENCE 

And lo, Isis, the queen, — 

The sorceress, she that longed 

For the greatness of the Godhead, 

She that doubted of his goodness, 

She that yearned 

But worshipped not, — 

She came also in the company 

After all the Gods had sought and found not 

The remedy for the deadly hurt 

Of Ea, their Father. 

And Isis spake softly unto Ea, the God: — 
"What aileth thee holy Father? 
What evil of no man's doing 
Hath smitten thine inmost life? 
I pity thee, yet I worship not; 
I believe not, yea and fear thee not. 
Wherefore perchance, great Ea, 
May I the better serve thee. 

Speak, is it a serpent that hath wounded thy heel? 
Surely the Good hath wrought no evil. 
Surely no thing thou hast created 
Hath lifted up its head against thee wantonly?" 

But Ea in anguish heeded not her speech. 
He cried aloud once more: 

"I quake exceedingly, 

Mine eye hath no strength left. 

That I cannot see the sky. 

My glory is in eclipse 

In the black maw of the destroyer ! 

Bring ye help speedily 

If ye would perish not even with me." 

And Isis trembled at her o-wrn boldness. 
Yet confessed not, and entreated softly : — 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



"Who art thou in very deed 

my Father, 

That I might know thee truly? 

Make haste to tell me thy Name 

That I might recall thy very self 

Unto thyself again, 

For verily whoso shall be delivered, Father of all living, 

By thine own Name, shall live forever." 



Then spake unto the queenly woman, 
Unto Isis of the wooing voice. 
The mighty Father from of old. 
Of Shu the abundant light. 
Of Tefnut, the womb of the showers, 
Who produced all things that live 
Out of Nu the waters of the abyss, — 
Truthfully spake he and yet with guile ; 

"Shall I not tell thee daughter 
Mine inmost being? 
Wherefore shall I hide aught 
From thine eyes that search out truth 
To bring salvation? 
I am the creator: 
I have made the heavens, 
I have stretched out the two horizons 
Like a curtain, 

I have placed the souls of the Gods 
In their inmost selves. 
I have knit together the mountains 
In unbroken fellowship, 
I have poured and parted the waters 
In seas and rivers and pools. 
I have made the delight of love. 
And the consuming fire of life. 
I am Kheper Ea, the golden beetle, 

30 



AST RULETH ALONE, AND DESIRETH OMNIPOTENCE 

That rolleth up the sun-disk 

In the morning; 

I am Ra, the intolerable splendor 

In the hot noonday; 

I am Temu who flusheth glorious 

In the quiet eventide." 

"Yet art thou," quoth Isis, "not also, Osar, Osiris, 
In the twilight, in the night season ? 

Wilt thou mock me in the hour of thine own grievous peril? 
With what name shall I summon thy true self unto thine aid? 
Speak sooth, great Father Ra, 
For the unknown, the unnamed, 
The uncalled, by his true name — 
Is as though he were not forever. 
And shall stead thee not at all, God !" 

And lo, the God waxed weaker 
And his breath fast failed him, 
For the questing eagerness of Isis. 

"I have spoken, daughter," quoth Ra, 

"Sooth hast thou said," quoth Isis. 

"Yet what thou hast spoken 
Is not thy secret Name ! 
So much knew all thy children. 
Yet fended not they from thee 
The sudden and subtle evil 
That was not of thy fashioning, 
Maker of all that is. 
The which smote thee to slay thee — 
For that thou hidest thy Self 
The very Name of Names, 
And withholdest from thy children the power 
To heal and to bless. 
Yet he alone shall live 
Of the Gods as God henceforward 

31 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Whose Name is revealed openly 
Unto man in deed and truth." 

And Ea, trembled for great anguish of fear : — 
'T grant that Isis shall search me, 

ye Gods, my innumerable sons, 

And fathom the mystery of mine essence. 
That my holy unknown Name 
May pass even from me in to her. 

1 charge thee, therefore, my daughter, 
Fear not to know the truth, 

Ay, the truth that is hidden, 

In the inmost dark, 

Of the too exceeding light !" 

And the eyes of Isis were opened, 

And she looked into Him, the Supreme Father, 

And she knew him no more thereafter 

As the aged and tottering God, 

For she had beheld the secret glory 

Of his quickening ever self-renewing youth, 

And she spake in the might of that Name 

The unutterable Name of Names : — 

"Let the poison of my doubt 
Perish utterly. 

And let the glorious Ea, our Father, 
Live forever !" 

And she alone of Gods and men. 

The Lady Isis, 

Knew Ea by his own most sacred Name, 

The sorceress and queen. 

And Ea spake unto Isis, 

Benign, refulgent. 

Awaking as from an evil dream: 
"Lo, I am even the glory thou dost conceive, 

32 



AST RULETH ALONE, AND DESIRETH OMNIPOTENCE 

Great mother-Goddess of mankind. 

Nevertheless, though the star Sebt be thine, 

That trembleth at the dawn, 

And though the green waters of fertility, 

Of the holy river, rise to greet thee, — 

Yet shalt thou be as any woman 

Forgetting the most potent Name, 

Which I have made thee for to know, 

On the day when thou shalt invoke in vengeance, 

To do evil unto the evil, ay even unto the worst. 

The power of my most holy ever beneficent Name." 

And Ea, the gracious. 

The ever self-renewing — 

Became intolerably glorious. 

Beauteous with all beauty. 

And Isis woke as if from sleep. 

And worshipped awestricken in the dawn : — 
"For thy sake, my beloved. 

For the sake of our only son 

Unborn, yea unbegotten, 

Have I conquered the Supreme, 

And am mistress of his Name, 

The ever self-renewing. 

Intolerably glorious. 

Beauteous with all beauty 

Superlative, supreme. 

That enlighteneth from the midmost heart of heaven 

The thick darkness in the congealed deep, 

Ay, the nethermost hell. 

And bringeth to naught 

The subtlety of the crafty one, 

The malice of the wicked; 

For, knowing now, I love. 

And loving, lo, I do worship — 

Yea, and wield for good only thy power, God !" 

33 



V. 
SUTI AND NEBTHET 



Now Suti, the brother of the king 
Conspired against Osiris 
Most mighty and most meek. 
And he rode upon the winged akhekh, 
The antelope of the wilderness, 
Hither and thither in the night-season; 
And he sowed the seed of discontent 
As the clouds of dust abroad, 
And whispered the secret of envy 
As the blasting breath of the desert, 
And all the green of the land did droop. 
And parched it hung, and ready to perish : — 

"Lo, he hath abandoned the rule of his great ones 
To win him the favor of the basely born. 
The tillers of the soil, the herders of the kine ! 
And lo, he hath won in secret 
The love of his brother's spouse unto himself. 
The lady of mine heavenly house 
Nebthet, the gracious Nephthys is mine no more: 
For, when I visit her, she smileth not, 
Wherefore, the child that shall be born of her — 
Verily is it, or no, true child of mine?" 



Unto the lady Nephthys spake he thus: — 

"\Anierefore is my brother preferred before me? 

Is he found better than I, in sooth, 

Because the first to see the light? 

More acceptable unto Ea, 

The holy Lord of the two lands? 

If Ea be holy and his ways equal, 

Shall not the worthier win obedience 

Of the Uraeus of the North 

In the reeds of the marshes, — 

Of the vulture of the South 

Hovering above the lillies?" 

37 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



But the lady Nebthet made reply, 

The lady of his heavenly house, 

The gracious Nephthys, sister and spouse : — 

"For shame, envious and wicked! 

How shall I leastwise love thee 

Who conspirest with malice? 

Shall I not cherish more fondly 

The sister that loveth me truly, 

And my Lord, true husband of my sister. 

That hath to great station preferred thee. 

And shall shield and foster 

Thy first begotten child, 

Anpu, whom thou dost cherish not, 

Anubis, whom, unborn yet, thou hast cursed? 

"Lo, if he, our unborn Son, shall hate thee 
Shall it not be of thine own choosing, 
Thou envious 
And jealous at heart. 
Thou subtle 

And murderous in spirit. 
Thou, whom I have loved. 
Woe's me, too passionately — 
That I shudder thereat now 
For piteous womanly shame?" 

And Suti laughed aloud: — 
'^^ehold, have not I a cause ? 
Hath not the foolish woman, my spouse, 
Given me a cause against my brother, 
And kindled a fire wherewith to slay him?" 
And Suti laughed, for evil joy, 
And Nephthys turned from him in hate, and sorrow, and shame. 



38 



VI. 

ANPU ACKNOWLEDGETH NOT HIS 
FATHER SUTI 



VI. 

SuTi: 

'^Son, hast thou verily hearkened 
Unto the base counsel of thy mother?" 

Anpu: 

"Thou art not in sooth my father. 

Save that thy bitter curse 

Hath ta'en from me my human features, 

Hath given unto me the countenance 

Belonging to the howler of the night ! 

Yet notwithstanding, no ravening wolf am I, 

With bristling mane to follow thy hiss of hate — 

But a faithful dog at my fosterer's heel." 

SuTi: 

"Wilt thou publish so unto all 
The sin of thy mother, fool ?" 

Anpu: 

"Nay, but acknowledge thereby the rather 
The excellent beauty of my Lord 
In loyalty and love." 

SuTi: 

"A sire wouldest thou prefer thee 

Who chooseth the slime of the Nile, 

The tiller of the soil, the herder of the kine? 

Who withdraweth from thee the light of his countenance? 

Preferring such offal before thee?" 

Anpu: 

"0 father of my flesh. 

Thine am I no longer. 

Thine was I never. 

I belong henceforward altogether 

41 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Unto the fosterer of my spirit, 
Whole-heartedly unto the good, 
Worshipfully unto the most beauteous : 
TJnto Him, that maketh his abode forever 
Within mine inmost heart, 
Most mighty, and most meek." 

SuTi: 

''And wilt thou not the rather 
Be king thyself in his stead?" 

Anpu: 

"Not by thy succor and preferment. 

Avaunt, tempter and seducer! 

Woe is me that I am begotten 

Of this evil one, flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone ! 

And blessed be the good and holy. 

My mother, and my fosterer — 

The far-away farer whom I long for, 

The bearer in kindness of good tidings to men, — 

Him that begat me not, yet reared me 

Unto his inner likeness, for that I loved him 

Ere I yet beheld and knew him, 

The blessed Lord of my loyal soul." 



SUTI 



"0 foolish and perverse Son, 
That wilt not make a covenant 
Unto thy health with the mighty, 
That is thine own sire, 
And thou his only heir ! 
Who then is this false Osar 
That rideth home in triumph? 
And shall he not be smitten 
A corpse by the holy river. 
Ere he return to Ast 

42 



ANPU ACKNOWLEDGETH NOT HIS FATHER SUTI 

The covetous, wicked sorceress-queen? 

Ha, shall she not send forth the slayers 

Herself to smite her lord, 

Lest he take from her the kingdom back. 

That seemeth, from long wont, her own? 

Wottest thou her secret, son of folly. 

How that she would alone hold sway? 

Hath she not sent thee forth to greet him, 

That she may have wherewith to accuse thee after, 

When thou shalt pay the price of her foul deed ?" 

Anpcj: 

"Avaunt ! 

I may not slay thee, 

That art the sire of me, after the flesh. 

Albeit I hate thee sore. 

But thy followers 

That be with thee, 

Lo, I shall slay them. 

Nor shall I hold back the loyal 

That be not bound to thee as I, woe's me, 

That would destroy thee, traitor !" 

And Suti laughed for scorn: — 
"Anpu, followers of Suti, 
The dogfaced, is my misgotten son no longer. 
Heed not though the cur do snarl! 
Let the fangless bark and bay 
And fawn on the foot that spurneth him ! 
We will go forth and valiantly win us our own. 
Let the bravest of you be son to me. 
In the stead of Anpu. Hence \" 
And Suti with his evil followers 
Gat them unto their fastness 
In the parched wildeness. And it was night. 



43 



VII. 
SIJTI THE TRAITOR AND OSAR 



VII. 

SuTi: 

"Lo I have come forth to greet thee ! 
Eeturnest thou my brother in glory 
Unto thy kingdom, long expected, greatly desired? 
Thy queen waiteth for thee and thy people !" 

Osiris : 

"Yet in mine absence all the while have I been with them, 

And have reigned for a whole moon of years. 

Diligently teaching unto the humblest 

The blessings of plenty and peace: 

The waving wheat, the rye and barley, 

The fruit of everlasting life V 

Sdti: 

"I have sued unto the Queen 

That she expect thee on the throne, 

And that I only go before to greet thee. 

For am not I the nighest of kin unto thee? 

And wottest thou well how she hath won 

With spells and cunning craftiness 

Unwomanly power and ungodly over Ea, 

Wherewith she shall make even thee 

To bow before her in worship — 

The king imto the queen, 

The lord imto his handmaid? 

Beware then of her crafty skill and her ensnaring beauty. 

And let us, dear brethren together, 

Ere yet it be too late 

Take secret counsel against her." 

Osiris : 

"How shall I deem her — a wife, a queen — disloyal? 
Or that truth shall ever fail the righteous? 
Have not I diligently served my people 
For one long moon of years? 
But how little is the season 

47 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Of a man's whole span of life 

To the innumerable ages 

In Tuat, the world of death ! 

How then shall we serve them, 

my brother of subtle thoughts, 

Whole-hearted in life and in death? 

Unto this rather take we counsel together. 

How else shall we win the queen — 

If thou speak sooth concerning her — 

And thy spouse Nebthet, 

The gracious Lady of thy heavenly house, 

Who is ever faithful to the desire of her sister, — 

That they seek not pomp and glory. 

But the love in their stead of the common folk. 

And the hailing shouts of their little ones 

Clinging at the breast. 

Hand clapping and crowing in their lap?" 

SuTi : 

''Well spoken hast thou, what thou hast said. 

Wherefore send forth, brother, 

Our retinue of splendor — 

Thine, even as mine — lest they trouble us — 

So shall we confer more meetly, brother with brother, 

Alone by the holy river." 

Osiris : 

"Leave us in sacred conference, 

my kindred, and all people 

Sent to hail my home-coming, 

Leave ye, as beseemeth them, brother alone with brother, 

Alone by the holy river." 



SuTi: 



"Hearken now, brother, my parable 

That yieldeth his meaning only in thine inmost ear : 



48 



SUTI THE TRAITOR AND OSAR 



The waters of the green Nile 

Stole up beyond his proper bank, 

And not content with overiiowing the land of Ast, 

He rose in the darkness higher 

Unto the borders of my parched desert; 

And behold, he flooded the barren land, 

And it sprouted in the twilight — • 

And she was mine no longer forevermore." 

Osiris : 

"I read not thy parable aright !" 

SuTi : 

'•'Hearest thou not, hearken, 

Anpu, thy son Anubis, 

Thy faithful hound, my brother? 

He bayeth afar, outsped by me 

Who would fain have thee read my riddle !" 

Osiris : 

'-'I wot not well what thou sayest. 

Thy meaning is dark, though thine eyes do shine.' 

SuTi: 

'TTet askest thou how it might be granted thee 

To serve them better, thy people in Tuat ? 

Lo, thou hast foolhardily, 

A man of war no longer. 

Come home without kingly weapons. 

Thy servile flail of the threshing floor, 

Thy crook of the sheepfold, 

Alone in either craven hand ! 

Fool and presumptions ! 

Perish, therefore, thou traitor unto the kingship, 

Like a slave, without battle bow thee. 

Lie low in the foul ooze. 

49 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Let thy tame blood flow out of thy wounded side. 

And make the waters to run red ! 

Yet hark, ere thou speed hence, 

By the kind help of thy brother 

Shalt thou go hence, explore ere thy due time 

The secret of Tuat, the underworld: 

Hath not Ast, thy beloved. 

Learned the most exalted name of the Supreme? 

Perchance she shall bystand thee 

And bring unto thy stricken soul salvation 

From the horrors of Hell, 

From the teeth of the hyena. 

From the jaws of the crocodile. 

From the tramp of my hippopotamus. 

From my snakes, that devour the corrupted dead. 

Kindly unto the basely bred, 

ITnkingly, despising thy birthright. 

Die not yet, good Osiris, 

Breathe not yet thy last. 

For hark! hark once again! Anpu bayeth, thy son. 

Little wotteth he where thou liest. 

Yet, thou canst not cry out now for succor. 

And he shall not find the bleeding body of his master. 

For he hath not the keen scent of the bloodhound — 

The base son thou didst beget in thy brother's stead ! 

Wherefore among the silver reeds and the slime 

Shall thy fear-smitten soul 

Perish together with thy body !" 

Ha, he is dead! 

"Ho, hither my followers in ambush, 
I have slain the false and the craven. 
And I am next of kin, your very lord now, your king ! 
For he is dead, who was fain to defy God, 
Withholding not grace from the lowly 

50 



SUTI THE TRAITOR AND OSAR 



Kindly unto the basely born, 

Unkingly, despising the holy birthright 

Of him that sitteth on high 

In the room of Ra upon the earth. 

Let us seize upon the throne straightway, 

The lofty throne of the two kingdoms, 

While Ast the bereaved shall search in vain 

For the dead body of her beloved Lord." 



51 



VIII. 
SUTI AND ISIS 



VIII. 

SuTi : 

"Great Queen, that hast the secret of Ea, 

I bring thee woeful tidings, alas ! 

The followers of the king have foully slain him. 

They have fled, the coward traitors. 

For that their bloodguiltiness is openly known."' 

Isis: 

"What sayest thou ? The good king hath perished ? 

My beloved? My Lord? 

It is impossible. Thou liest to prove me." 

SuTi: 

"It is abominable so to lie; 

Woe is me who am chosen to afflict the queen ! 

I outsped my dutiful son Anubis, 

That I might be the first to greet him. 

But his retinue could answer not 

My inquiries after their missing Lord. 

Too whelmed with horror was I to exact vengeance, 

And ere I was 'ware they had fled 

And taken refuge in the outer dark." 

Isis: 

"I will go forth straightway and seek his body, 
Lest his immortal soul find not his rest !" 

And the queen lifted her eyes on high 

And she wept not for proud sorrow. 

"Is this the blessing, Ra, 

Thou awardest unto thy king? 

Seb, our father, 

Where dost thou hide thy son? 

Nut, oiTr mother, 

Where dost thou weep over him?" 

And the queen spake unto her horror-stricken lords. 

Unto her men of war, her loving servants: 

55 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



"Forth, ail ye mighty men of valor, 
Pursue after the slayers of your king ! 
Go ye east unto the mountain of sunrise! 
Go ye west unto the mount of sunset ! 
Go ye south unto the wall of water above the heavens ! 
Go ye north unto the swallowing deep sea! 
I myself shall go unto the river alone 
As is most meet, 
In quest of my slain Lord." 

Nebthet : 

"Nay, I shall go with thee, my sister." 

SuTi: 

"Wilt thou not tarry with thy husband, my consort?" 

Nebthet : 

"How shall I seek not first the body of our brother?" 

iSuTi : 

"Fare thee well then, handmaid of the dead, 
Sister of the outcast, and God-forsaken! 
Ah, it is well. Over the sorceress 
Your Lord, hath triumphed gloriously! 
In her great grief forgat she not 
The word of power, the Name of Ra ? 
The terror of the woman and wife, 
Overbore the pride of queen and goddess ! 
And she hath scattered abroad her servants 
That they may not fight their master's foe ! 
Now shall the throne be established 
In the hands of a mighty man of valor 
One worthy to be King over the valiant. 
That cherisheth his birthright 
Of him that sitteth in the room 
Of Ea, and lordeth it 

56 



SUTI AND ISIS 



Over the whole earth ! 

Not, my followers, my faithful, 

Shall I of you be found wayfaring, 

Ensueing salvation for the outcast folk, 

Blessing the children of squalor with unearned plenty, 

And the sons of scorn with false wisdom and knavish peace. 

A glorious king shall at length rule over you. 

Unto deeds of shining terror. 

And when Isis shall at last bethink her 

Of requital and revenge, 

Naught shall her wisdom avail her at all 

Against the lawful lord, her brother. 

The nighest of kin, the heir of her deceased beloved ! 

She shall have spoken the holy name for naught 

In wrath (not wotting who was doer of the foul deed), 

And so shall she have lost forever its power. 

Nor shall there be an heir of the dead. 

Belated fruit of his body, 

To wreak vengeance in the end ! 

Lord of all at last, Seb, Nut, 

Is the son whom in your folly 

Ye loved not, preferring his elder before him — 

Him ye would fain have rejected utterly. 

Of whom else shall ye henceforth be proud ?" 



57 



IX. 

AST FINDETH THE BODY OF HER 
BELOVED SLAIN 



IX. 
Isis: 

"0 my sister Nebtliet, 

If we find not our brother, 

How shall not his spirit wander 

Without rest through the waste places? 

Shall he wail in the night wind ? 

Shall he cry to us in the howlet's hoot? 

Shall the glorious king be forgotten, 

Lost to the gratitude and worship 

Of men alike and of Gods?" 

Nebthet : 

'T>e comforted, my sister." 

IsTS: 

"It is well for thee, whose husband 
Is nighest of kin unto the dead." 

Neibthet : 

"Not shall my son be disloyal, 

Nor shall I acknowledge a traitor as lord.' 

Isis: 

"Nay, my sister, forgive my grief 
That lightly accuseth the faithful." 

Nebthet : 

"It is dark. Let us- fare no further." 

Isis: 

"Nay, here we may not tarry 

Lest the raveners of the night 

Tare the blessed body of my beloved !" 

Nebthbt : 

"Beware, lest thou stumble suddenly 
For the thick darkness into some snare, 

61 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Lest we sink into the quicksand, 
And none there be to deliver us. 
And none be left to seek out farther 
The body of thy beloved !" 

Isis: 

"]Sr ay, nay my sister 

The grief-stricken knoweth no fear. 

Ha ! What is this at my feet, 

At my very feet, that clingeth to me? 

Is it a sheaf of the harvest 

Half buried for resurrection? 

I cannot see, Nephthys." 

ISTebthet : 

"^^It is but a furrow ridge of fertile soil. 
Let us tarry for the morrow." 

Isis: 

"Nay I will have light. 

Sebt, my star in the heaven, 

1 may not tarry for thy rising. 

I will wave my hair in the heavy gloom 
Till there be light." 

Nebthet : 

"0 my sister, Do not so ! 

Wilt thou hasten the dawn of sorrow?" 

Isis: 

"I will wave my hair 
Until the light sufficeth." 

Nebthet : 
"It is Osiris!" 



62 



AST FINDETH THE BODY OF HER BELOVED SLAIN 

Isis: 

''He is not dead, he sleepeth ! 

Awake, my beloved, 

That didst seize the ankles of the goddess 

In the passion of thy love-dream !" 

Nebthet : 

"Nay, he is wounded." 
Isis : 

"Thou art hurt, my beloved ?" 
Nebthet : 

"His heart is silent !" 

Isis: 

"Some wicked one hath indeed slain him ! 

my beloved. 

It was all in vain 

1 mastered Ea, the Father of Heaven, 
To make thee a God immortal ! 

Thou hast perished ere I might whisper in thine ear 
The word of power, the secret Name! 
Speak, who hath slain thee, 
Thee whom all men loved?" 

Nebthet : 

"It is, woe's me ! none other than Suti. 

Lo, the weapon of my husband ! 

Osiris, thou gracious one, 

Forgive, forgive thy sister 

That she was wedded unto thy foe !" 

Isis: 

"0 Osiris, beloved. 

Most mighty and most meek, in earth and heaven, 

G3 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 

Thou slialt be avenged, 

According to the loving kindness of thy spirit 

Not in vain gat I the word of power, 

The secret Name of the most Highest. 

Ea, Ra, I call upon thee 

By the unspeakable name ! 

I whisper it in tliy most holy ear 

That neither the living, nor the dead. 

But thou only shall hear it, 

And answer to its awful call. 

I will avenge my beloved, 

The well wisher of his fellows. 

Who perished at the hand of the wicked. 

O unnameable, whom I have named, 

Hearken, and heed ! 

Lo, I cast me upon the dead, 

Upon the beloved of my soul. 

The gentle, the forgiving, 

Wlio lived that he might bless mankind. 

Make thou me, Ra, 

To bear Him that shall take his part 

Against the adversary ! 

beloved, I tremble, 

Thine avenger, thy terrible Redeemer liveth. 

For the dead, he hath begotten. 

And the bereaved one hath conceived!'' 

Nebthet : 

"Thou art mad, my sister." 

Isis: 

"I am the bitterness of wrath ! 

He shall be avenged, horribly avenged 

Upon the slayer, shall he be avenged ! 

NEiBTHET : 

"So be it !" 

64 



AST FINDETH THE BODY OF HER BELOVED SLAIN 



Isis: 

"Woe's me ! Woe's me ! 

Hast thou forsaken her that brought healing 

Unto thee, most holy Ea? 

Xow am I utterly bereaved, my beloved, 

All power is taken from me 

To do thee good in thy latter end." 

And lo, a shadowy figure, Ibis-headed — 

Came there to the twain sisters, and he spake : — 

"Bear the body unto the barque 

Moored nearby on the river bank. 

In the divine barque of the sunset 

Let him that was bruised and wounded. 

The most mighty, the most meek, 

Yea, let the Prince of the West be ferried 

To a joyous place of rest." 

And Xephthys cried in great amaze : — 
"It is Tehuti!" 

And the Angel of the Supreme 
Spake softly unto Isis the bereaved : — 

"Ea hath heard thee, He the holy one, 

queen of the morning star. 

Thee, whose tears do swell the river 

That it riseth over the land, — 

According unto thy prayer shall it be done unto thee 

Thou shalt bear, unto thy Lord, a son. 

Him that was in the beginning 

The lord of light and life, 

To avenge the Good and Kind 

Upon the evil one." 

And Nephthys and Isis 

Gently bare Osiris and brake not his slumber, 

And laid him with tender reverence 

65 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



In the barque of Teliuti, 

Afloat on the rippling waters of the Nile. 

And ]o, it was he no longer, 

The recorder of good and evil deeds, 

But Anubis who chanted low : — 

"Bear softly, holy river. 

The body of my foster father 

Unto his long abode !" 
And Isis cried aloud, and Nephthys wept. 



(U) 



X. 

HONOUR TO THE DEAD OSAR 



X. 



"He is dead, the gracious and true. 
We have laid him on a bier of rushes, 
Naught else had we whereon to bear him 
Unto the sacred Seker-boat." 

And lo the boat it was very high 

Above the rippling waters of the Nile, 

Its head, the head of Hennu, the gazelle, — 

In its middle lay a sacred chest 

Wherover hovered a golden featured hawk. 

And Anpu, Anubis, reared most terrible 

His dog's head, his bristling neck. 

The face now golden, now black. 

As in alternate pulses of the light. 

And Anpu, Anubis, steered the boat. 

And Ast, Isis, stood at the feet of the dead, 

And Nephthys at the head of the dead. 

To protect the blessed dead 

By the melody of their voices. 

Though their eyes streamed with sorrow, 

They sang for love of Osar : — 

"The star Sah, Orion, hath set forever. 
The mighty belted Lord 

Who spreadeth out his arms to the top of heaven. 
And bestrideth the mountain, 
But the evil envious brother, 
He watched unsetting, 
With his seven glittering eyes forever 
From the north, Septentrio, his house of heaven. 
Yet shall he fade out at the last, 
When the star Sebt, Sirus, 
Like one solitary beacon of the dawn, 
Dartleth above the flushed horizon." 

69 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



And all the people assembled, mourning: — 
"He is dead, the gracious and true, 
The good king who taught his people 
To sow the divine seed of the grain 
In the shallow furrow of the grave; 
And gather thence an hundredfold 
Benedictions of plenty and peace." 

And for a token of all he wrought, 

Before them went two jet black cows 

Yoked to a plough of tamarisk wood, 

The share whereof was of black copper. 

And there followed a boy who scattered 

Freely abroad over the furrow 

The seed of the barley, of the spelt, and of the flax. 

And there followed a maiden chaste and fair 

And she poured from a golden ewer 

The fresh waters of the swollen river. 

And lo, the God of justice, Thoth, Tehuti, came 

Ibis-headed searching the hidden recesses; 

And the Goddess also, Maat, of truth and righteousness, 

With her twin ostrich plume, light as the air. 

And lo, a lion drew nigh 

Unto the holy chamber where they would lay him. 

Entering by its westward gate, 

He clawed him steadfast in the pure glittering sand, 

And lifted his threatening head with clinging mane of gold, 

And lifted in wrath liis tail erect — 

That he might thenceforth be a bier forever unto the holy God. 

And under the lion on whose willing back they laid him, 

Two hooded serpents lifted themselves on guard; 

And tall over the sacred head to eastward. 

Balanced on its tail, throbbing its checkered green and yellow 

wings. 
Crowned with the red crown, 
Hung the terrible Uraeus of the North. 

70 



HONOUR TO THE DEAD OSAR 



At his sacred feet, over the lifted tail of the lion, 
Soared the vulture, crowned with the white crown. 

And over him they set a canopy 

Builded at the head as of four reeds from the marshes, 

Other four also at the feet, and four reeds lengthwise 

Upheld the canopy. And there hovered 

A glorious and terrible golden hawk 

Above the holy and beloved. 

Anpu, Anubis, brought the vessel of the sacred ointment 

When the air swooned with the precious perfume thereof. 

And others, his servants, brought the coffin of mulberry-wood. 

Very precious, wrought most cunningly. 

And laid it on sycamore boughs. 

Then Isis kneeled at his feet adoring 

And Nebthet at his sacred head, 

After Anpu, swathed the dead god with linen bands, 

And sheathed him in threefold linen sheets, 

The while over him spread the glory of his mother Nut. 

Behold, at his head there sprang over the sacred chamber 

A goodly sycamore broad-branching. 

The sycamore of his Mother Nut — 

In token of her heavenly ever-present care ; 

And seven persea trees, laden with juicy fruit, — 

And it seemed to them a bitter jest. 

WTierefore, they set up the fourfold cross. 

As the support to prop the sacred roof 

With a holy rood, the Tet, 

At top whereof they set 

As it were the face of the blessed Osar : 

The flail of the threshing floor. 

The crook of the sheepfold. 

In either hand of the upraised image ! 

71 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



And they cried aloud : "Blessed Osar, Lord Osiris, 
It is in honour of thee, yea, of thee. 
Who didst plant the persea tree 
And gavest thy folk the sweet 
Fruit thereof to eat. 
Who didest teach the vine to clamber 
Clinging with its tendrils to the lifeless tree. 
And to change water into the sap of life; 
Who taughtest the folk to tread out the ripe grapes, 
And drain their lifeblood changed into wine ! 
Lo, it shall be for the backbone of Osiris, 
Set up for an everlasting memorial ! 
On his ribs hang the black clusters, 
giver of joy imperishable unto the people of the two lands. 

And Thoth was fain to seek comfort for Isis, 

A young black bull of death he brought her, 

That stood by the river Hapi, the holy Nile. 

And a seal of justice, foursquare, 

A star of purity showed in his midforehead. 

And on his tongue lo, the beetle 

Of Kepper-Ea, the Creator of life, 

And over his broad back hovered. 

As the outline shadow of the sunward soaring eagle. 

And Thoth said, ''Let the soul of Osar 

Be pleased to dwell henceforward 

In the bull so marked with sacred marks. 

Let the bull be Api, named for the river Hapi, 

And Osar-hapi for thy husband's sake. 

Let the bereaved folk worship in this figure 

Thy beloved, their lord and benefactor." 

And Isis marvelled 

And Nephthys greatly. 

At the wondrous kindness shown them by Tehuti. 

73 



HONOUR TO THE DEAD OSAR 



Wherefore I sis took a lotus from the river 

And offered it unto Osiris 

That he might even breathe its sveeetness; 

x4nd lifting it then to heaven^, 

She cried aloud — "Lo, Ea, 

Thou that wanest to old age, 

And waxest again to youth, 

I offer thee the pure lotus 

That springeth up of itself 

From the divine splendour hidden in the depths ! 

For the nostrils expressly of Ea, 

He shot up out of the pool of purity, 

He waxed, he budded, he bloomed : 

It is the very head of my beloved. 

Acceptable to thee be my thankful sacrifice !" 

And Nephthys tarried, and fed a handful of tender grass 

Unto the glorious jet black bull of the starred forehead. 

And they placed upon the head thereof the kingly crown, 

The sacred Uraeus atween his horns. 

But Thoth, the Lord of Judgment, the scribe of Truth 

Had pity upon them there, 

And he spake once again fair words of comfort: — 

"As I have ordained in the name of all the Gods 

Such honours unto Osar, 

So shall they be established 

Forevermore in the two lands. 

Howbeit, now it were expedient 

That thou be very heedful. 

Flee hence, Ast, that thou mayest bear in safety the Avenger, 

Unto a secret place where Suti may not find him. 

For lo, the wicked and envious 

Hath seized the throne of Osar, 

And none shall thence remove the murderer, 

Save he only, the young child, that shall be born of thee and 
of the dead." 

73 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Then Isis waxed terrible and spake defiantly : — 
"Hold not I in my keeping the Holy Name, 
The Name of Ea, the most sacred, 
The inmost, most potent forever 
To create, and to destroy?" 
And she did mightily endeavor to recall it. 
But she remembered the Name no more, 
The Name for the possession of which she strove, 
Yea, to the uttermost with Ra, 
Bringing him, the Supreme, 
And with him, all his sons and daughters. 
Nigh to death, that she, Isis, might bring him 
Comfort and health in his hour of need. 
And hold henceforth that secret. 
That omnipotent Name as a pledge 
Of safety and power forever. 

And Isis made moan, recalling the word of Ea : 
"Shouldest thou use it ever in wrath 
It shall leave thee, a weak woman!" 
And she fainted for dismay. 
Then Tehuti who knew her thought 
Had pity on the weakness of the bereaved, 
And tenderly did he raise her up. 
And wotting well the evil ahead 
He caused virtue to pass into her, 
And bestowed a marvellous strength upon her 
To bear discomfiture and heavy hardship: — 

"Go forth, bereaved and mourning wife, 

Leave thy dead in the faithful charge of strangers. 

Nor shall this be the end of bitterness, 

A sorrowing Mother shalt thou be, 

Ere thy great triumph at the last. 

But thy son, shall be even Heru, Horus! 

The ancient foe of Evil shall become incarnate, 

74 



HONOUR TO THE DEAD OSAR 



Flesh of thy flesh, bone of thy bone, 

And his limbs shall be endued with twofold strength; 

His father's thews and goodness — 

And thy cunning and love of excellent glory. 

He shall sit upon the throne of his father, 

The Avenger, the exceeding Glorious, 

And thou shalt rejoice in him!" 



And Tehuti vanished out of their sight. 

And the people wept aloud. 

And worshipped reverently the dead God. 



75 



XL 
THE BIRTH OF HERU INCARNATE 



XI. 

And Isis left the holy sepulchre. 
Choking with silent grief, 
And Nephthys followed sobbing. 
And they bade farewell once more to the dead: 
"May the sacred Uraei defend thee, 
And the sacred hovering hawk, 
my husband, my brother." 

"Why wouldest thou fare with me, Sister," 
Spake Isis, unto JSTephthys, 
''Into the marshes, poor outcasts. 
Where the fen-men be cruel 
And the women uncomely?'' 
But Nephthys answered not. 
And all the day long the sisters fared together 
Seeking out some place of shelter 
Among the fens, and found it not. 

Then Mestet and Mestetef, 
Two mighty scorpions. 
Marched on the right hand and on the left; 
And Petet and Thetet and Maatet 
Took station as the fierce van; 
And the mightiest Tefen and Befen 
Brought up the terrible rear: — 
The seven stars of the constellation, wherein Sothis shone 

foremost. 
Set them in battle array unbidden, to ward from violence 
The blessed sisters Nebthet and Ast. 

"1 am weary," at length sighed Isis, 
"And I long for a little rest. 
Yea, the pains of motherhood 
Will soon overtake and be upon me, 
And prevail over my strength of heart. 
Where may I bring forth mine only son in safety, 

79 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Whom the king shall seek that he may slay him, 

His Avenger, the glorious one, 

Whom the secret Name of Ra, invoked in wrath, hath granted me, 

And Tehuti, lord of angels hath promised. 

And Maat in righteousness and truth, hath decreed unerringly 

Ere aught, that is, had being, yea, even from of old ?" 

And lo, the twain came unto the door of a proud dame 
Wife of an overlord whom Isis had appointed 
When she throned yet as sovran queen over the two lands. 
"What, and shall an outcast woman 
Lodge with me, even with me, in my great liouse ?" 
And they made known to her 
How that it was the blessed lady Isis 
Desolate in her hour of travail 
That came to her, invoking succour. 
"Nay, Ra forbid, lest I be a traitor so 
Unto Suti, our lawful lord and king." 
And the brazen doors of the great house 
Clanger-to in the face of Isis. 

And Isis spake to the seven scorpions : 
*'Lo, I am alone, and am in sorrow 
More grievous than that of any woman. 
Find me a way to the hidden place 
Of Khebet, the floating island, 
In the swamps where no man may pursue." 
And on they went until a woman, very poor. 
Opened the door of her wattled cot of reeds 
And freely offered shelter unto Isis 
Wotting not who she might be. 
So Isis entered and took comfort, 
And laid her weary limbs on a pallet of rushes. 



Now ere long, at the door of the wattled hut 
There knocked and prayed admission 



80 



THE BIRTH OF HERU INCARNATE 



The proud dame, who had spurned her instant prayer: — 
"Woe is me, gracious Isis 

I have sinned, I have sinned wickedly against thee. 
That I asked thee not in when thou wast faint and weary 
And anhungered, nigh thy time of anguish, 
And thou didest deign to crave of me shelter and rest. 
Behold what thy scorpions have done unto me! 
Look on my little son, my only son. 
Him they have stung, and he is lifeless, 
And I live in grief and torment. 
Restore him, restore him I" 

But the scorpions sang for joy : — 
"Under the brazen eaves of the door 
Stole Tefen and he slew him — 
The child of the churlish woman ! 
In his little heart burneth the sevenfold poison 
Of Petet and Thetet and Maatet, 
Of Mestet and Mestetef, 
Of Befen and Tefen. 
Shall not the child of the wicked perish, 
Of the proud and stiff-necked that denyeth shelter to the 

wayfaring, 
To the outcast woman in her piteous need?" 

Nevertheless the great enchantress 

Liited herself up in gracious womanhood 

And took pity on the little son, 

Guiltless of the sin of his mother. 

Yea, Isis yearned unto the boy. 

And she recalled so to mind unwitting 

The spells she had learned of Seb, 

Of Seb her father — the God of the green earth 

When he crooned to her at her cradleside of old. 

And Isis took the dead child in her tender hands. 
And laid him on her bosom in fond cherishing, 

81 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



And the child opened forthwith his eyes 
And laughed up in her face, 

And she smiled and gave him gladly to the amazed and grate- 
ful mother 
That repented her in shame of her grievous sin. 

Then Isis taketh heart of grace, 
Rejoicing in her own deed of kindness : — 

"Ah, not wholly forsaken am I," 

Cried Isis, the sorrowful, 

"Not have I lost my cunning utterly ! 

Even as I have brought to life again 

This little one, whom the terrible and mighty, 

The seven wardens ordained of Ra, 

Slew for his mother's hardness of heart. 

So shall I suffice, even I, yea, I thy mother, 

Unto thy safety, my little one ! 

"Fear not, glorious son of the betrayed and slain, 
Thou foe of all evil even from the first beginning. 
Fear not to be born my helpless infant. 
In vain would the Evil King find thee. 
Shall not the seven bystand thee. 
The terrible seven? 

"Ha, in thee is the seed whereof are all things ! 
Thou art the great Phoenix 
That ariseth from his ashes forever ! 
Fear not to be born of Isis 
The bereaved and desolate mother, 
That summoneth thee, the Avenger, 
The Restorer, her only son \" 

And lo, when she had ceased from her chant 
It came to pass straightway 
That Heru, the great Heru, was born, 

82 



THE BIRTH OF HERU INCARNATE 



Bom of Isis, his blessed mother, 

Isis the haughty in her pride 

Athirst for knowledge and power, 

The faithful in her love, 

The terrible in her righteous wrath. 

And Nephthys worshipped, 

And the old woman of the fens did worship, 

And the proud dame gave precious gifts. 

And her little son, restored to life again, 

Crowed, and clapped his hands for gladness 

And greeted the great newborn God ! 



83 



XII. 
THE NIGHTMARE AND BAPTISM OF HERU 



XII. 

And Osiris sat again at his sumptuous festal board — 
For there did Isis behold him — 
And all good men were glad. 
And Isis brought forth her treasurer 
Who told him of all his wealth, 
The droves of horned cattle and the she-asses — 
The high mounds of good grain in his houses of sun-dried brick, 
The vessels of craftily hewn stone and quaint beaten brass, 
The ornaments of wrought silver and gold, very precious, 
The orient spices, making the heart to faint for sweetness, 
The great store in costly vestures 
Of divers colors, with needle work subtile, delicate — 
WThereon were graven and carven and woven 
His gracious moon of serviceable years. 
And it was so, even so, nor might it be 
The thought only of her yearning heart. 

Howbeit, lo, Suti arose at the feast, 

And caused to be brought into the hall a carven chest. 

One treasure that Isis knew not of. 

Fairer than all things else in the whole earth. 

All men admired the cunning craft thereof, most excellent. 

Meet for a king only, inlaid with shining images 

Of Seb as the enhaloed moon swimming into the sky of ISTut : 

And Isis, for all her pride and shame. 

Felt her heart grow keen, that she coveted sorely. 

Ay for whom might so noble workmanship 

Fetch peace in the long sleep at the last? 

Who else but the son of Seb should lie therein 

With glorious kingly state, the chosen offspring. 

Ay, the equal of the Gods? 

And she rebuked her heart in silence. 

"Unto whomsoever shall the chest 

Be rightly proportioned, unto him falleth 
The prize, the sorely coveted." 

87 



THE GOSPFX OF OSIRIS 



And Suti glanced sidelong wittingly at Isis, 
And Isis shrank for her hot shame. 
'■'See ye then among the lords of Osiris 
If none there be stately enough in stature 
That he may claim it for his own.'' 

Now the lords and their guests laughed aloud one at the other, 
As they did lay them down in the chest, 
Each in the order of his degree, 
But they fell short everyone of the length thereof. 
Then cried they all with one accord : — 
"Let the King, the godlike Osiris, 
Venture, even as all his mighty men. 
For who but he hath inherited 
The lofty stature of the Oods ? 
Unto whom else save unto him only 
Of right belongeth this bed for the last sleep, 
This chest of cunning craftmanship, 
That publisheth abroad the holy loves of Seb and Xut?" 
And Isis, laughed as she looked upon her lord, 
The tall and goodly, the stalwart and gracious. 
Ay, Avho but he should rightfully occupy tlie lioly chest? 

And Osar spake: "What his lords have dared 

Shall the king fear to do, and be accounted worthy? 
^ay, nene is there of all my people 
Who shall not be as the king unto the king ; 
Wherefore also shall the king refrain from pride, 
Humbling himself unto the mirth of his lords.'" 
Then Isis had fain let him 
Therefrom, and withstood his lords. 
A reasonless misgiving fell on her as a beast of prey, 
A horrible foreboding of dire ill clutched her throat. 
But albeit she strove, as she met the eye of Suti, 
She was as one stricken dumb and could not cry. 
Her tongue clave fast to the roof of her mouth. 

88 



THE NIGHTMARE AND BAPTISM OF HERU 



Was there then uo guile? Yet could there harm befall 

In the midst so of his loyal host and loving? 

Yet fain was she to hinder, but her hands 

Were as those of a stranger unto herself 

Whose speech she might not understand, 

And she quaked exceedingly. 

And held in bitter fear her peace. 

When lo, an awful thing, 

Suti, the abominable, the cunning, 
■ Closed down the chest and made it fast on a sudden, 

And he shouted fierce defiance. 

Then sprang his men from behind amliush, the fair pillars of 
the hall. 

But the lords of Osiris were astonied, 

Tonguetied and powerless even as she. 

The enchantress the queen, the wife of Osar. 

And the men of Suti poured the moulten lead 

Into the seams of the chest with sneers and jeers. 

And ere the lords might yet shake off the bonds of the wicked 
spell, 

And arouse them in wrath and loyalty, Suti shouted :— 

"Into the Nile with him ! On the river Hapi forth 

Shall the good king float 

To seaward in his funeral boat. 

Ay, even to the great sea of the far North." 

And Isis strove in anguish to utter a great shout also 
Unto the loyal lords of her doomed king, 
But her voice had died deep in her throat, 
And she trembled with the horror, as a rush in the night airs, 
And became even as a bodiless ghost. 

And she made haste and ran unto the marge of the river Hapi, 
And followed the holy chest 
On and on, on and on, ever on and on, 
Until the gathering darkness shut it from her view, 

89 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Xor was there boat upou the river, 

That she might follow, with speed ; 

And no man heeded her wrung hands and mute appeals, 

Only the wild ducks flew swiftly north with him 

As if to guard the imprisoned king. 

Ha, was it then but a foul dream? A nightmare obsession? 
And she wrestled in spirit and flesh 
To cast ofl: the bondage of appearances. 
Yet were they mighty as the truth 
And constrained her; and she knew not how 
The horror of truth might alter, 
Were she unwilling to suffer her lot. 
Perchance a worse might be 
For the craven that dared not dree it to the end, 
The rebellious that set her athwart the course of the still 
white stars. 

Then seeming to arouse her and shake off a trance 
As of ages lapsed in woe, 
The queen was found, — 

Awake, or in bodiless vision who might say? — 
At Byblos, a haughty seacoast city of Syria. 
And her wise heart warned her, beating high. 
That her long lost lord was very near. 

Then came she before the servants unto the queen of the land, 
And breathed upon them, as the lotus when it openeth. 
And plaited their hair in lovely wise. 
iVnd little wotted they how that she was the great Ast, 
Queen Isis of the two broad lands. 

Now when the maids did wait diligently upon their mistress. 
The queen of Byblos made inquiry : — 
"Wlience the perfume of your locks my maidens?" 
But they shrank not from the tellmg of their tale. 
How that a strange woman had stayed from her journey. 
And seated herself by the wayside. 

90 



THE NIGHTMARE AND BAPTISM OF HERU 



And of the wondrous fragrance of her person 

That passed into them she tended with her hand. 

Wherefore the Queen of Byblos caused her to be summoned, 

And she spake with her, and was exceeding glad :— 

"A fair woman, whose hands are skillful, 

To make my handmaidens fair as queens, 

Whose breath but lightly breathed upon them 

Causeth them to wax fragrant as the dawn? 

Nay, make thine abode with me, good stranger. 

Tend thou my son with thy most gracious hands. 

Be thou his foster mother." And Isis gave consent. 

Whereupon it came to pass in the cold night 

That the mighty Isis took the babe, her fosterling, 

And bathed him in the flames. 

On the blazing hearth of the great hall : 

And she fluttered about in circles. 

As a swallow twittering mournfully 

Among the pillars of the roof. 

Until the queen, awaking, did hear the twitter song, 

And the crackle and leap of the quick tongues of fire, 

And cried for terror, seeing what thing had befallen. 

And recking little the sacred meaning thereof. 

Then was Isis once more the goddess. 
Revealed in all her beauty and power, 
That the queen fell down and clung to her feet, adoring ; 
But the goddess gave back the babe into his mother's hands. 
Nigh immortal for the bath of flame. 
And Isis made request for her hero. 

Even for the pillar of the house, nor dared the Queen deny hec. 
So the mighty pillar was removed thence 
With reverent care, to sacred chaunts. 
And lo, embedded in the sealed core thereof. 
Stood the burial chest that carried Osar 
Down the holy river to the sea ! 

91 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



"Ha, thou hast been verily the holy rood, my Lord, 
The stay likewise of the far stranger's roof. 
The hollow erica tree hath folded thee 
In its jjungent scented bark as a winding sheet. 
Thou hast concealed his sacred body 
From harm and sacrilege. 
Back shall I take thee in a wide-winged ship, 
From Byblos to the holy ^S'ile." 

And when she had spoken, she shrieked, the Goddess Isis, 
For there before her stood Suti, the destroyer ! 
And behold it was but an evil dream. 

Well was it that she had suffered the feigned doom, 

For so she had sounded the depth under depth of Suti's malice, 

And meted the height over height of her Lord's goodness. 

Condescending even unto the unholy stranger. 

And the length and breadth of her love 

That never ceased to follow to the end. 

That fetched him home at the last. 

And the strength of her widowed heart that drew unto itself 

comfort — 
Ay, a wellspring in the wilderness, — 
Nursing and hallowing the child of another. 
A stranger and queen, but a woman and motlier ! 
Ah, which was true, life's harrowing mystery, 
Or the harrowing mazes of the cruel dream ? 

And Isis blessed Ea for her lonely motherhood, 
And to her breast she folded her own babe, 
The pre-existent Saviour incarnate, 
Heru, the foe of evil, victorious in the beginning. 
And his little hands lay dimpled, 
Upon the heaving breast of the mother. 
Then straightway, awaiting not the daylight, 
Daring no longer delay the hallowed rite, 

92 



THE NIGHTiMARE AND BAPTISM OF HERU 

She set before liiin a silver basin 

Full of water from the ever-running river : 

And lO; in crystal stillness mirrored lay the moon, 

The glorious moon in whose fashion her father 

Sailed up with silver sail of cloud 

Upon the great Xile of the heaven, 

Unto the very bosom of the starry Nut, 

Who withdrew her in soft shimmering veils of grey. 

And Isis bathed herein her crowing babe, 

And she lifted him, sparkling with the wet dew : 

"0 Seb, Seb, my father, God of the earth. 

Fruitful loam for the sprouting green ! 

Bless the Avenger, born of thee, 

The mighty Saviour, with undying power and will to strive. 

Mother Nut, pure Goddess, ]\Iother of the night sky, vestured in 
cool glory, 

Endue him with the calm and everliving quiet, 

With the dancing joy of thine imperishable stars." 

And she knew in her heart that they heard her ; 

For the river flowed by them with low rustling whisper. 
And the rushes and papyrus reeds did shiver in the gentle air. 
And the light of the full moon bathed all in mystery and glister. 
And she took her Lord unto her breast 
And nestled him, and she was glad. 



93 



XIIL 
THE STINGING OF THE BABE HERU 



XIII. 

Now a rumor went forth that I sis 

Was hidden in the far papyrus swamps. 

But Suti made diligent inquiry 

Concerning the young child. 

And well he wotted he might not slay him 

If Isis came not forth from her place of hiding. 

So he betook him unto the sacred tomb of Osar, 

And he wrought there sacrilege and ruin : 

The sacred body of his brother 

With his own sword he clave in pieces 

And set them floating on the river 

In twice seven arks of woven bulrushes. 

And the tale of the woeful, the hideous deed of sin 

Came even unto the ears of the fen men, 

And they bare tidings thereof unto Nephthys, 

And she told it to Isis in fear and trembling. 

And like it was, yet unlike — 

More awful than her harrowing dream. 

And the happy mother was once more the bereaved wife 
And fortli she went in quest of the sacred body. 
The babe she entrusted unto Xebthet, the faithful, 
And unto the blessed Mut, the mother Goddess, 
Who in every goddess is herself the very mother. 
She it was in love took the babe unto her bosom. 
In the stead of Isis, and she spake: — 
"Go forth, my daughter, fear thou not. 
For I will be as thyself while thou doest thy pious office 
Unto thine husband, my son, whose sacred body 
Hath been outraged of the evil one, woe's me, who also is 
my son!" 

Wherefore a shallop made Isis of papyrus, 
A frail raft of the rushes 

Bound together with snake-stemmed water-lillies. 
And the crocodile durst not do her hurt 

97 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Though unarrayed perforce she sat in her boat 

Shining in pure nakedness, 

Her linen garment spread out for a sail 

To catch the faint breath of the dawn. 

But Suti had sent abroad his keen-eyed spies, 
And they brought back tidings of Isis. 
They retraced the marge of the river, 
And they followed her footsteps 
From where the sliallop pushed oft' from the strand. 
And they told the King where the young child lay, 
In the bosom of the Holy Mut, 
Tended of Nebthet, the whilom wife of Suti 
Who had cast off the traitor, her lord. 

Then Suti drew nigh, in fashion 

Like unto one of the scorpions, the guardians of the child 

And he stole softly unto the babe, 

And he smote him with his sting 

Innocent, at play in the very lap of Nebthet. 

But when the scorpions heard the cry of Heru, 

Then altered Suti straightway his form 

Into a crocodile's that Avept for sorrow. 

Nebthet and Mut uttered piercing cries, 

x\nd the fen-men assembled themselves together. 

And lo, Isis, returning in her shallop, 
Wotted not of her fresh sorrow. 
All stood dumb before her 

And spake unto her in awe of her bereavement: 
"Heru, thy little one, sleepeth!"' 
"It is well," made answer Isis, 
"For so his father sleepeth 
In a secret hiding place of the blessed dead. 
And Anpu, Anubis, keepeth his tender watch over him. 
Every part of the sacred body have I recovered. 



THE STINGING OF THE BABE HERU 



Give me, give me, my child then to my bosom. 

He shall not be ashamed of his mother 

That adventured forth for his great father's sake." 

"Shall we break his sweet slumber?"' 
Pleaded Nephthys, in sore pity, 
"A sore illness hath befallen the child, Sister, 
And his sleep is very precious ! 
Wake him not up too suddenly." 

But Isis peered into the cradle, 

And she uttered forth a terrible cry, 

And all the dwellers of the swamps 

From far and nigli they gathered them together. 

And they wept for the fearfulness of her misery. 

Then came N^ephthys shedding tears, and went about the swamps. 

Uttering cries of grief. 

And Serquet, the goddess of scorpions came, 

"What is it, woman? What hath befallen Heru?" 

"A scorpion, alas, hath stung him !" 

"ISTay no scorpion is it in truth. 

Suti hath taken the guise of my servants falsely. 

Wherefore no power have I to aid thee. 

Call thou upon Ra, Isis." 

"Thou beautiful one of gold, 

The boy, the child is helpless, still, 
And no word of power is mine to speak. 
Woe's me thy Holy Name, Ra, 
I uttered it in anger 
Righteous yet fierce with hatred, 
Wherefore am I bereft of thy power. 
Quicken, notwithstanding, Ra, 
Quicken thou my child. 
For the scorpion of Suti, 
The slayer of the heart. 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



He hath found where he lay, 

Heru, thy very heir ! 

Ra, thy son of promise 

Wouldest thou have him to perish utterly? 

Quicken him the rather with tiiiue untlying life I" 

And Ea, the magnanimous king. 

Forgave in his heart the sorrowing mother, 

For that as queen she would have mastered him 

With unseemly and irreverent guile. 

Not may he allow his Xanie, 

His sacred Xame, stolen from his hosom 

To fail of kindly power 

In the hour of sore distress. 

Albeit she that called upon him 

Knew it no more, to summon therewith 

The all-power of his godhead. 

In the flaming boat of his million years 

He bade the rowers to cease at the golden oars, 

And the golden disk stood still in the middle heaven, 

And Tehuti, Lord of justice, sent he down to earth, 

Witli ]\Iaat, the lady of immortal truth. 

'From heaven are we come."' 
Spake they unto the bereaved, 
"That we might save the child. 
For his mother — that crieth on Ra, 
And for the good king Osar, 
That he might have a son, his only son, 
To sit upon his throne forever in his stead. 
Wherefore are we come this day 
From the boat of the million years. 
That beareth the glory of Ra. 
Lo, from the place where it stood yesterday 
It hath not moved ! 
It sitteth fast in the heart of the sky I 

100 



THE STINGING OF THE BABE HERU 



"Look up, I have come for the healing of Heru, 
The righteous Avenger of his Father, 
And he shall wax mighty 
For he who hath died 
May die no more. 

Invulnerable is he as the babe had been 
Of the queen of Byblos — 
Hadest thou finished the burning 
Of his mortal sin on that lonely night, 
In the midst of the dream that I sent thee in sleep, — 
The dream that is the truth of thy life — 
That is the life thou leadest, and wottest not of, 
That mingleth its good and evil with thy life 
As it chanceth in the flesh. 

"And truly not hadst thou suffered 
This anguish of great fear, 

Hadest thou mercifully let the wrath of thy scorpion 
So he had wrought no evil 

When he would slay the son of the hard-hearted, 
The churlish mother that shut her gates against thee. 
Yet for that thou tookest pity in the end 
On the child, guiltless of his mother's wickedness, 
Shall pity now be shown of the holy God unto thy child, 
Unto the child of Isis, the haughty one, 
The Queen of the mighty words. 
Who by guile possessed herself of the most secret Name of Ra !" 

And Isis fell upon her face and worshipped. 
And she blessed Ea in the highest heaven. 
Humbled and hallowed of her sorrow; 
And she blessed Ea in the highest heaven, 
"Pity have I learned, Ea, 
Golden Ea, 

To love mine enemy with all my heart, 
And hate and loathe alone his cursed deed of evil. 

101 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Blessed Ea, 

Holy Father, 

Henceforth is my son consecrate unto thee. 

Again hast thou given him to live. 

Begotten of Thee 

He is thy child without a mother born, 

Thine only, dedicate unto thy will, 

Blessed Ea, 

Holy Father of thine only Son." 



102 



XIV. 

THE TESTING OF THE BOY HERU AND THE 
VISION OF SUTI 



XIV. 

But Heru grew in comeliness and favor, 
And waxed mighty of stature and of limb, 
And the fen-men loved him dearly 
And they spake unto no man of the lad. 
That Suti, the evil king, knew not of his foe 
And boasted himself, in his cups, secure 
Seated for all time on the throne of the two lands. 

Now the young Heru lay under a persea tree 
To rest of his wily hunting 
Among the papyrus marshes. 
Where he had seized the swift fowl as it alit 
By the clinging feet with his naked hand ! 
And the boy gazed into the dome of lapis lazuli 
Through the shivering glinting silver of the reeds. 
And he forgat the chase, and marvelled greatly 
Eemembering and pondering wistfully 
Those things his mother Isis had done unto him. 

Por lo ! had she not brought her kindled censer 
And burned incense before him, her son. 
Ere he started to go forth through the land 
In his white sandals at the dawn? 
And he had asked her in wonder 
What this so strange a thing might mean. 
But she made answer, and he wist not what she meant : 
"It is a prayer, and a holy omen, my son. 
That thou mayest behold thy Father face to face. 
And, discoursing with him, know thyself, 
And what thou art, and what thou yet shalt do !" 

So as he pondered full of awe 
Under the persea tree, and cried. 
Out of the throbbing heart of his dream 
TJnrecking what he did, in wistfulness : — 
"Where art thou, my Father, 

105 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



That I might behold thy face of awe, 

Out of the sweet fumes 

my mother's wreathing incense?"' 

Behold the shining shadow of Osiris 
Drew nigh and stood at his very feet 
And solemnly spake, "0 Horus, 
my son, my first born, my only begotten. 
What dost thou desire of me 
More than ought else in heaven and earth? 
According to thy will even so shall it be done unto thee !" 

And the boy straighway beheld a vision, 
The fashion of his heart's desire. 
And it was his very self, none other, 
That hovered wingless yonder aloft, — 
For whom shall else the soul behold 
Save his own purity and secret glory? — 
In his right, the flail and the shepherd's crook 
Of his sire, the king who blessed the outcnst folk, 
Making glad the spirits of the lowly : 
And over his ear hung the lock of youth 
Curling comely, 

Upon his head the great crown 
Eed and white of the two lands, 
And the Uraeus upswaying o'er his forehead. 

Now the youth of his vision, 

That had his favor with tenfold grace. 

Hovered upborne on the mounting fragrance 

Of the giant lotus, shining 

With the arrowy beams of Ea at noon. 

Then cried the boy, enraptured with his vision : — 

"Fow I know, my Father, 

What thing in chief would have of thee !" 

"Speak my son, and be it unto thee 

106 



TESTING OF THE BOY HERU AND THE VISION OF SUTI 

According to thy word/' And the proud boy 

Trembling for gladness, unfaltering made his prayer: — 

"0 my Father, 

Give thou me to become a golden hawk, 

A raging lion of the wilderness! 

Make thou me altogether worthy in flesh and spirit ! 

Grant me a long spear 

With a sharp point as a star 

That turneth not aside, 

But piereeth through the flinty rock ! 

Grant unto me great linked chains, forged of adamant, 

Wherewith I may tether in shame 

The Wicked, captive, to thy sacred tomb." 

And the vision of his very self 
That was revealed then unto him 
Hovering above the lotus. 

Changed into the mighty winged golden sun-disk. 
And the godly form of his sire faded away in the twilight, 
On whose lips there blossomed the smile of victory. 
But in the hands of Heru was there found a spear 
And a clanking chain also of many links. 

And Horus sprang to his feet and ran unto Isis his mother. 
Brandishing his new got weapon in air, he cried aloud : 
"0 my mother Ast, my proud mother, 
I have beheld him, I have indeed beheld Him! 
My divine Father Osar have I seen, eye to eye ! 
I have stabbed already Suti, the craven heart of Suti." 
And Isis cried, "Therefore, it is my son 
I burned the incense before thee, 
For that I beheld in thee One who should do valiantly 
Making answer for his father, as a mighty God." 



107 



XV. 
HERU SON OF OSAR VANQUISHETH SUTI 



XV. 



The battle of Suti, the traitor, 

And of Heru, the avenger, raged horribly, 

And all the two lands trembled 

Nor durst there any man draw nigh — none in heaven or earth — 

Save only Isis of the haughty womanhead. 

The mother of the mighty. 

Lo, in the end, Suti smote Heru with a flying rock 
Torn loose from the desert mountains of Arabia. 
But the son of Osar raged the more terrible 
For the loss of his right eye. 
Till Suti was minded to change his outer fashion 
Into the clawing bear of the northern heaven. 
Then Heru forebore not to meet guile with guile, 
And his semblance became straightway as a ramping lion's, 
More glorious and mighty in the southern night. 

And Heru cried : "I shall not spare thy life 
Save thou alter thy seeming to the loathly, 
The ill-shapen monster of the marshes." 
But Heru leaped fast in his own manhood on the slimy back 

of Suti, 
The lumbering beast of darkness, 
And he chained him limb by limb. 
And he gored him with his star-pointed spear. 
And goaded him to a frothy speed of madness 
That shook the earth in a crazed anguish of fear. 
Wherefore, his mother Isis cried aloud: — 
"Enough, my son, my son. 
Have pity to spare the mastered foe. 
For is not he, after the flesh, of thy kindred, 
Brother of Ast, thy mother. 
Husband of Nebthet, thy fosterer, 
Father of Anpu, thy father's faithful watcher? 
Withhold then thy cruel arm, for lo, it is enough !" 

Ill 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



But Heru was wroth, and waxed the more awful, 
And his wrath turned hot against his mother, 
That she fled before him as before a panther of the South. 
And he reached out, and snatched from her liead the crown: 
"N"o Goddess in sooth be thou, henceforward, 
A weak woman, sore hurt of thy shameful pity. 
That biddest thy son withhold his valor. 
And stay the righteous smiting of the blow 
For the utter ruin of the wicked. 
No faithful wife art thou of the slain Osar, 
Not mother more of his righteous avenger and son, — 
But sister unto the traitor, unto the chained fiend !" 
And as before a panther of the South, 
Fled she from Heru for her very life. 



But Tehuti, the king of angels. 
Descended from on high, 

From the boat of the thousand, thousand years, 
From the everliving seat of the glory of Ea, 
And he touched Heru, 
And healed the eye of the champion ; 
And he staunched the gory wounds of Suti, 
Ay, healed the mortal hurt of the Evil One : 
''Her prayer hath yet prevailed: 
Thus far, no further shall extend 
The wrath of the avenger." 



Then Heru bowed unto the heavenly decree, 
And was reconciled unto his mother. 
Faring unto the holy sepulchre 
To render unto his father all the glory. 
And Isis his mother followed meek, 
Yet proud her son had dared to humble her 
In the avrful spirit of his wrath. 

112 



HERU SON OF OSAR VANQUISHETH SUTI 

Now whithersoever they fared 
Throughout the two lands, 
The loyal folk lit every one his candle 
In honour of all the brave departed. 
But Heru caused to perish utterly 
All the treacherous followers of Suti. 
Yea, a great battle waged he day by day 
Without wrath or clamor, 
And all along the way they wended. 

That he might have wherewith to offer up a living sacrifice 
Worthy of his father so foully done to death: — 
"Ye shall be cut in pieces 
All ye sworn foes of the true king, my sire. 
Ye shall be riven, and whoso cleaveth to you shall be liereaved. 
Every man of you shall be hacked asunder. 
Yea, and ye shall rend and consume one another secretly, 
That evil perish at the hands of evil !" 

And it was so, even as Heru spake : 
For in the bosom of the evil 
Behold, Evil awoke to wage a war 
Of craven wrath and venomous bitterness; 
For, hath not Heru, the mighty, spoken the word of power 
In the day of his exalted victory: 
"That evil perish at the secret hands of evil?" 

And lo, the stately dancers danced before the glorious One, 
They shook and clanged the glittering systra — 
The four elements of all things, — 
Fire and earth, and air and water 
For the shrill ringing bars thereof, — 
That all the universe be purified with joy. 
To drive forth therewith pitiless the Evil One 
FVom the uttermost four corners thereof, 
The Evil One whom Ast in her tenderness of heart 
Womanlike bade Heru spare, 

113 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



When he triumphed over him with the spear of his Eight Hand ! 

Wherefore the dogs and the lions, 

The wild cats and the panthers 

Drave he forth, and the hippopatamus from the river, 

I'he crocodiles likewise from the quagmires and marshes! 

Howbeit the hawks and the vultures 

Came to the aid of the holy world-cleanser ; 

They circled and swirled through the dazzling upper air. 

Till they had purified the vault of heaven, 

As their lord had throughly purged the whole habitable earth ! 

WTiereupon the two lands rang with the glory of Heru, 

The praises of the only son of Osar and Ast. 



114 



XVI. 
THE RESURRECTION OF OSAR 



XVI. 



And Herii, the Avenger, greeted Anpu, the faithful keeper 

At the Holy Sepulchre of Osar, 

And sang unto the spirit of his father 

A psalm of victory and worship : — 

"I have brought unto thee, my father, 
The many-runged ladder of Suti, which the wicked one 
Did hide from thee in the thick darkness of his soul. 
Wherewith thy soul may climb now on high unto the Gods 
From the dismal twilight of the nether world. 

"Thou art the hidden soul, 
Thou art the lord of souls. 
The lord of eternity, the lord of beauty. 
The mighty One of hallowed strength ! 
Thou art the inmost substance of the two lands ! 
Thou art he that doeth what is done. 
That worketh kindness unto all mankind ! 
The good spirit of all spirits ! 

"Thou drawest thy waters from the abyss of heaven, 
Thou sumraonest hither the north wind at eventide, 
Cool air and fragrant for thy nostrils to breathe : 
Thy heart doth quicken of itself and swell and l)ud 
And groweth bountifully all food divine; 
The dizzy lieight of heaven 

And the starry-twinkling Gods yield thee homage, 
Yea, the constellations, they which never set, 
x\wait the frown of thy countenance: 
The starry Gods of the underworld 
Bow down themselves in supplication before thee, 
Most beautiful Lord of the company of the Gods! 

"0 Thou, who art beloved of all that behold thy face 
Hearken how all on the earth do cry out unto thee 
With cries of yearning and welcome, 
To summon thee, even thee, their joy ! 

117 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



stablisher of truth, of Maat the chaste, 

mainstay of righteousness, of Tehuti, the wise, 

delight of thy great Father Seb, the fertile earth, 

beloved of the sky, thy Mother Xut. 

Didst thou not die verily of thine excellent goodness ? 

Hast thou not begotten thy son, who hath wrought so great 

deeds in thy name, 
Thy son, thy only son, to li\'C unto thee and reign in thy holy 

stead ? 
Lo, I am Heru, thy only son, thy very son. 
Behold, and approve that which I have done, my Father! 

"On this most beautiful day 

Of thy fair rising in the soul of all. 

Thy mounting to a broader noon of all-embracing love, 

Thy love is doubly sweet unto all men. 

For behold thy son hath avenged thee in M'ill and in deed. 

Holy and beneficent is thy Xame henceforward. 

And the awe of thee abideth, established forever over all! 

"In the river flood, in the celestial water. 
In the staff of life. 
And in every flower of the field, 
my Father accept thou at the hand of thy son 
The light of mine eye 
Extinct for thy dear sake, and healed of Ra. 
thou that seest all things 
In the worlds that are shut unto men's eyes. 
Be utterly satisfied with thy Son, 
In thine innermost heart of love and justice, my Father !" 

And Isis and ]S[ephthys who bowed low 
At the singing of Hern's hymn of oblation. 
They took up the burden of his singing : — 

"Forgive, gracious God, 

Whatso is done amiss — 

Ay, that he spared thy foe 

118 



THE RESURRECTION OF OSAR 



At the foolish chiding, at the womanish pity, 
Of her that loved thee, of thy most loyal spouse. 
Let not the sin be now reckoned against thy son, 
That the Avenger spared our bitter brother's life. 
When he had chastised the wicked Evil of his soul." 

Then Isis arose, and held before the closed eyes of the God 
The cross surmounted with the sun of righteousness. 
And she lifted up her voice with passionate might : — 
"Arise, and behold, if tliou be verily a God, 
Behold thy Son, as with the eyes of Man, Osiris, 
My husband, my king and God !" 

And she waved over her dead Lord her mighty wings ; 
And behold, 

At the wind of her mighty wings, 
Befell a miracle of heavenly grace: 
The sacred body of Osiris — 
That had known not corruption. 
That had healed to perfect wholeness, — 
Though riven of the cruel sacrilegious Suti, 
Numbering the days of the waning moon. 
Setting Godhead, against Godhead, — 
Ay, the sacred body of the dead king. 
It trembled as with a shiver of sudden cold ! 
And behold he lifted up slowly his right hand of power. 
And his eyelids of wonder lifted them. 
And his lips of gentle speech did part them : — 
"0 glorious, well-beloved son." 

And the dead God arose upon his bier. 

And Anpu speedily loosened the linen swathings ; 

And the lion-bier of stone 

That stood steadfast so long time as no living thing 

Did roar alive again for gladness; 

And the green falcon that had hung moveless in watchful awe 

Shook vehemently his sunny wings, 

119 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



And screamed as a great eagle iu the zenith, 

And fled up the sheer heavens to Ea, 

To hover once more above the quick golden glory of Ea. 

And lo, the God that died, Osiris, 

The living one, stood up in his own might. 

And Isis, the widowed mother. 

Worshipped her spouse and clung unto his knees. 

And Nephthys, the loyal sister, the fosterer of his son, did 

worship. 
And Horus, the pre-existent, avenger of the godly, worshipped 

also 
The Goodness he had made to triumph foreverniore. 

And behold all about the sacred tomb 
Stood clumps of trees, down-laden 
With juicy fruit, of no man's planting; 
And grapes hung heavy on every tree-trunk, 
From vines of no man's rearing; 

And the wheat and the barley waved, of no man's sowing, 
In a sea of sunny gold throughout the land of Isis, 
Full now of crimson and azure flowers 
As the night sky of myriad eyes; 

And the morning star danced in splendour of white fire, 
And shouted, to Sah, Orion ; 
And Ea cast his dazzling glory upon them all. 
For the people came in thousands and thous^ands of thousands. 
And the highlands rang with gladness 
When they beheld together 

The marvellous beauty and splendor of their good king, 
Eisen mightily from the blessed dead. 

But Horus holding him, new-arisen, by the hand, 
Isis and Nephthys, following in meekness. 
And Anubis, warder of the rear. 
They wended their happy way in stately silence, 

120 



THE RESURRECTION OF OSAR 



To the shining palace of the king, 

To the temple of the God who dieth no more henceforth forever. 

And the multitudes brake into shouting ; 
As the waves of the roaring sea : — 

"Hail Osiris, Hail Osiris, that was dead 

Who reigneth again in everlasting splendour ! 

Hail Osiris, Hail Osiris, the living, the loving Lord, 

In whom his people shall rejoice 

With great and holy gladness 

From generation to generation, 

Even forever and forevermore." 



121 



XVII. 

THE JUDGEMENT OF SUTI AND THE 
VINDICATION OF OSAR 



XVII. 

And hark, as Osiris mounted 

The steps unto his exalted throne, 

Treading staid and stately between obelisks 

Whereover by Isis had been recorded 

The great deeds of the past reign of her lord, 

Whereon had labored the cunning artificers. 

There cried out a terrible voice 

Into the astonished midst of the lords, 

And the great ones of the king's company : — 

"He shall not occupy again the holy throne 
He, who is unclean. 
He shall not remove the rightful heir 
The son of his mother ! 
Horus who hath fought with me. 
And saith he worsted me, is not the heir. 
Because he hated me was he adopted, 
For the true Horus was slain in the marshes 
Of a venomous scorpion when a child; 
And Osiris, I slew for that he wronged me. 
When my wife forsook me and clave unto him in my stead, 
Wlierefore Anpu, Anubis, the son of Nephthys 
Is son of Osiris, and none of mine." 

Now the people would have slain Suti, 
And Horus lifted his terrible spear like a bolt of lightning, 
But King Osiris, the meek, spake with great mildness — 
The mildness even as of one new-arisen from the dead : — 

"Justice shall here be unto all men. 

Rendered evenhandedly and freely 

And most with mercy unto them that lack it most, 

The poor and the homeless and the outcast, 

In the dominion of the godlike king." 

"Too great, my father, is thy loving kindness 
And the patience of thy noble spirit. 

125 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Shall the wicked one," cried Horus, 

"Whom my mother Isis spared in her woman's pity, 

Bring foul accusations against our lord the king, 

And hurl insults at thy champion, 

His vanquisher in equal battle? 

And who shall there be to judge between us?" 

"I make mine appeal unto Ea, 

Unto Tehuti, his recorder and his angels, 

Unto Maat, the truth that shineth in his presence !" 

Cried the evil one. 

Spake then the most mighty in goodness, 

"The Gods must heed, and hold assizes 

Even at the cry of Suti, the accuser ; 

For the throne of the high Gods is founded 

In truth alone and righteousness." 

"Lo, ye gods it is I that slew Osiris," 
Cried the terrible Accuser 
Lifting his hand to heaven, 
"Yet I slew him for mine honour. 
Lest, a gross sinner, he wear the two crowns, 
And unhallow by his sway the sacred two lands, 
A man that betrayed his mother's son ! 
Moreover, if in sooth this be Horus, 
Be verily the Horus that perished. 
Yet might he not be true child of Osiris, 
And Isis did sin against her husband." 

Such then was the accusation of the Accuser, 
But Osiris offered himself meekly 
For the sake of truth and righteousness 
Unto the inquiry of the holy judges. 
The two score and two exalted Gods 
Elect each one for his nome of the twain kingdoms, 
That one may bear witness to whatso is done in his nome. 
Who wotteth the mind and the heart of the inhabitants thereof. 

126 



JUDGEMENT OF SUTI AND THE VINDICATION OF OSAR 

These sat aloft in their majesty, 

Two score and two, austere, incorruptible. 

And the devourer of the unjustified, 
A monster unspeakable stood by. 
Whose jaws do drip and are like unto the crocodile's, 
Eeached with hooked teeth to the middle heaven, — 
And his shoulders and forelegs, 
A spotted hyena's upon the earth, — 
And his hindquarters, as an hippopotamus 
Breaking through of their proper weight into the hells, — 
He, the tusked devourer of the rejected. 
Yawned expectant of doom 
For the destruction of the accused. 

Then was the sacred heart of Osiris 
'Set by itself in one basin of the scales. 
And the holy feather of truth lay in the other. 
And the fearful, unbribable Anpu 
Watched the trembling tongue of the balance. 
Forgetting love in his holy office. 
And the merciless keen Tehuti, the recorder. 
Displayed the books of everlasting judgement. 

lAnd lo, Ea, the Supreme God of Gods, 

Called upon the judges, the austere and incorruptible, august, 

That they straightway render sentence : — 

Whereupon the two score and twain 

Spake as one man : "Behold we find no fault in him. 

Osiris is guiltless before us and without spot or blemish. 

Suti hath deceived his own false heart. 

For that he is drunken with envy and malice. 

The disloyal one hath spoken iniquity. 

When he speaketh a lie, behold it is his own, the word he hath 

spoken ; 
When he doeth murder, he doeth it with his heart's delight." 

127 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



And Ba, the Supreme, gave assent unto the judgement : 
"It is true what ye have spoken, 
I find no fault in him at all. 
Osar, the faithful, is worthy, 
And all do cherish him both in earth and heaven. 
Suti, the disloyal and the base. 
All do hate him as in heaven so on the earth. 
Nephthys, the fosterer doeth well 
If she preferreth the good unto the evil. 
Anpu, the son of Suti, 
Eeleased from the holy filial ties, 
Justly may choose Osiris in the stead of his sire, 
The adopted Son of his Spirit that is good, 
Eather than son after the flesh of the wicked One. 
And Heru is the very life of Osar 
Made manifest in youthful splendour. 
By my creative word was he begotten 
Unto the innocent and childless dead, 
That he might lack not his avenger. 
He is the very son of Osar, 
Spirit of his spirit, God of God, 
And in him have I set forth my glory 
That he bless mankind forever! 

"But the judgement upon Suti, shall stand fast : 
That Heru, and Osar have made known 
What is in his heart, unto all men ; 
Hearken thy punishment, Suti, mine evil son : — 
Upon thy shoulders shalt thou bear 
Him that is greater and mightier than thou. 
For that he is fain ever to do good, 
And his heart is true and holy." 

Then of a sudden was Suti changed in fashion 
Like unto a red ass of the wilderness ; 
And he was tame and meek, and mightily 

128 



JUDGEMENT OF SUTI AND THE VINDICATION OF OSAR 

Laughed all the heaven and the whole earth: 

For Heru and Anpu layed upon Suti the king's robe— 

And upon the robe they set him, 

The mighty one and the meek, 

Him that was risen again from the dead, 

The best beloved of all gods and men. 

And they hailed the king, so riding forth to judgement: 

"Thy members are bright and shining. 
As new copper in the sunlight. 
Thy head is precious as lapis lazuli. 
Blue as the broad sky of noon. 

"Behold him, ye people, how he weareth 
On both sides a mantle of green turquoise. 
The springtime verdure on either bank of Nile. 
3jo, it is he whom ye have desired to see, 
And he rideth in triumph on the back of the wicked ! 
On the broad back of the wicked 
That slew him unawares, 
That rent his sacred body. 
And lo, now, is he tame 
And beareth in triumph the holy one he hated ! 

"0 thou God of a million years. 

Whose form and beauty of countenance 
Doth pervade the awful underworld. 
It is thou that towest the earth 
By truth, Maat, in thy name Seker — 
The boat that carrieth the blessed — ' 
To the fields of a far-off sunset : 
Thine shall be an everlasting kingdom ! 

"0 ye mighty wicked, tremble 

For henceforth is there judgement 
To come suddenly even upon you! 
And for that Osiris the immortal king 
Submitted the cause of the wicked against him 

129 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



To the judgement meekly of the righteous. 

Therefore, also hath Ea granted unto Osar 

The greater kingdom of souls departed, 

And unto Heru, his only son, 

Hath he given to sway the world of living men." 

Forth rode Osiris therefore unto his new kingdom, 
His steadfast rule established over the blessed dead 
Where they rest them in still meadows, 
Where they delight in the chase yet slay not. 
Where they plow and sow and reap. 
Ay, garner without weariness forever. 
Where they rear and prune and train 
The fruit tree and the clambering vine, 
Where they number the stars in their courses, 
Where they are filled full with the love one of another 
And with the glory of their undying king. 

Now Heru was left standing on the steps of the great throne 
And Osar and Ast, and Anpu and Nebthet 
Had passed on into the sunset in the west, 
Wherefore Heru cried with a great cry : — 

"Woe, unto the wicked man, 

Woe, woe unto him. 

For lo, in this world, where all things pass 

Save truth and righteousness, 

I shall straitly execute the commandments of my Father, 

Seated on his everlasting throne; 

And in the next world, where all things abide for aye. 

My Father Osiris 

Eearisen from the dead 

In his flesh incorruptible, — 

With the crook of the Great Shepherd 

In his glorious right hand, 

With the flail of the harvester 

That thresheth the corn in his mightier left, — 

130 



JUDGEMENT OF SUTI AND THE VINDICATION OF OSAR 

Under his quivering canopy of fire, 

By the river of life, 

Is enthroned forever, a terror unto the wicked, 

And a blessed joy unto the holy. 

'Tjo, at his feet from the river of life 
Shooteth and blossometh the lotus 
Whose fragrance floateth before him 
Toward sunrising, toward sunsetting. 
To the North and to the South; 
And in his rear standeth I sis, his beloved, 
The proud and haughty in power, 
The tender and gracious in sorrow, 
And her kind sister, my mother of gentle shadow 
That ministereth unto the faint and weary." 

But the people sang in thanksgiving: — 
"Blessed henceforth are the good. 
The holy and the kind, 
For Osiris will be their Judge, 
Even Osiris himself, the justified, 

And he will take their part in the face of the adversary. 
They shall taste the fruit of his righteousness, 
They shall continue his own forever. 
Ay forever and forever." 



Here endeth the Gospel of the Poor, 

Even the good news unto the desolate, the afflicted and the 

bereaved ; 
Here endeth the Promise of Judgement upon the mighty wicked 
In his over-weaning pride and subtile malice ; 
Here endeth the promise of Blessedness upon the humble true. 

Lift up thine eyes therefore unto Heru and bow before him ! 
In the days of thine untoward change, 

131 



THE GOSPEL OF OSIRIS 



Be thou Osar, call upon him, 

Be called even by his holy Xame ; 

And Heru will take thee by the hand and lead thee unto his 

Father, 
Who will bid thee welcome, even thee, for his Name's sake, 
In his everlasting kingdom of righteousness and peace. 



Hail, ye that enter into his rest. 
Into the rest of Osar, 
That dwell henceforth forever, 
Safe in his gladness and glory 
Where virtue and love make their abode 
World without end. 

All Hail Osar, the well beloved, 

Hail Ast, the haughty and faithful, 

Hail Heru their Son, 

Their only Son, 

That holdeth sway among the living 

And leadeth the holy unto the holy One, 

First Prince of the West, 

The King his Father, 

Who welcometh them that Horus loveth, 

His holv ones and true. 



133 



AFTERWORD 

In correspondence with Professor James H. Breasted, of the 
University of Chicago, concerning the vocalization of the chief 
names involved in this Epic Lyric Cento, it was decided to adopt 
"Horn" and '-'Aiset" for "Hern" and "Aist" as roughly correct 
(scientifically) and as meeting at the same time the needs of 
euphony. Unfortunately this final selection did not reach me by 
mail until the whole poem was already in page proof and could not 
well, without very considerable expense, take effect. This is un- 
fortunate, but the reader can make the change for himself. 

The word "hawk" is preserved instead of "falcon" on account 
of its use in Biblical English. The two words overlap as to connota- 
tion, the one being of Latin, the other of Saxon origin. Of course, 
the Egyptian hawk was a bird akin to that used in sport, and 
"falcon" would be more strictly correct, as avoiding the recent 
American use of hawk and its erroneous designation. 

Perhaps the reader may be interested in the communication 
with which Dr. Breasted honored the compiler of this lyric-epic 
here inserted by permission : 

"You have evidently caught a vision of the mythic stories of 
Egypt which is very picturesque and attractive, and which shows 
a knowledge of much of their detail. Undoubtedly the poem would 
acquaint the popular reader with the content of the surviving 
Egyptian myths in a form that is very pleasing, human and vivid. 

"In such a presentation the subjective element is unavoidable, 
I suppose. Your representation of the sting from which Ea suf- 
fered, as doubt in the mind of the goddess, is a very fine touch, but 
of course it unhappily remains subjective and incapable of demon- 
stration. I have noted on the margm a few archaeological matters, 
which, without being pedantic, it might be well to alter. 

"I wish your poem a hearty bon voyage, and I thank you very 
much for the opportunity of reading it in advance." 

Particularly valuable is what he has to say concerning the in- 
terpretation of the serpent and its sting in the heel of the God Ea. 

133 



AFTER WOED 



Without some such assimilation, the old picturesque and authentic 
legend could not have well been drawn into moral and, therefore, 
truly poetic relation with the chief epic cycle of Osiris, that is ever 
religious and ethical in import and tone. 

For the conception of the God as old, arising in some measure, 
at least, in an ageing of religious experience, there is at all events 
some inherent probability. Conviction becomes more and more 
impersonal, remote, and the divine Idea weakens and relaxes its 
grasp on belief and thereby forfeits healing and creative power 
for the will and the devotional spirit, when fresh experience is not 
had from time to time, at least vicariously or sympathetically 
through seers and religious leaders. The oldness and infirmity 
of the belief is dramatically transferred to the image of the God- 
head. In venturing this rather subtle piece of divination the writer 
might as well acknowledge his debt to William Blake, who depre- 
cated the conception of God as an old man, insisting that, when the 
soul has had a vivid personal experience, God is seen rather as the 
eternal babe. 

This afterword is dictated by a haunting scholarly scruple, an 
over-honest desire to put into the hands of the reader the best pos- 
sible opportunity for criticising the compiler and editor of these 
ancient materials, indicating the one spot at which he has had to 
rely on interpretative religious imagination for the poetic use of 
an else barbarous and offensively irreverent legend. 

The author ventures to add also here a brief bibliography of 
Frances Wright D'Arusmont, so as to facilitate access for the 
serious reader to the work of her whom to associate with the Lady 
Isis is a debt of gratitude gladly paid. 

Frances Wright d'Arusmont, better known as "Fanny Wright," 
was born in Miln's Building, Nethergate, Dundee, Scotland, Sep- 
tember 6, 1795, and died in Cincinnati, Ohio, December 2, 1852. 

Her published works are : 
1. "Altorf: A Tragedy." 1819. 

(Presented with success in New York until the per- 
formances were stopped by the burning of the theatre.) 

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AFTEEWOED 



2. "Views of Society and Manners in America, Letters to a Friend 
in England by an English Woman." 1820. 

(Published in several English and American editions. This 
is a treasury of quaint observation, and has permanent inter- 
est for the lover of American beginnings.) 

3. "A Few Days in Athens: being the Translation of a Greek 
Manuscript Discovered in Herculaneum." 1832. 

(Published in many editions, some pirated under the title 
of "The Garden of Epicurus." This is her best published 
imaginative work.) 

4. "Course of Popular Lectures with Three Addresses." 1829. 

(Published also in many subsequent editions, being a collec- 
tion of her most famous platform deliverances.) 

5. "Fables." 1842. 

(Appeared first in (New Harmony) Popular Tracts No. 1, 
office of Free Enquirer, New York City, 1830.) 

6. "England, the Civilizer, her History Developed in Its Prin- 
ciples." 1848. 

(This is by many regarded as her most important con- 
tribution to political thought and contains the substance of 
her later lectures.) 



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